The Big Lebowski

BFI Film Classics

by J.M. Tyree, Ben Walters

Since its release nearly ten years ago, The Big Lebowski has become a cult classic with a worldwide following, having survived the baffled reaction of many mainstream critics. Its fans tend to be fanatical, congregating at 'Lebowski Conventions' in bowling alleys across American and Britain, and even dressing up as characters from the film. Among the funniest films of the last twenty-five years, and one of the high-water marks of 1990s genre recycling and pastiche, The Big Lebowski is also littered with playful and subversive references to film history, especially to Raymond Chandler's world of hardboiled detective classics and the world of film noir. The Big Lebowski is the rarest kind of film, a comedy whose jokes become funnier with repetition. The same goes for its multitudinous jukebox-like references to other films, many of which open up vistas for intertextual interpretation. Underneath the film's breakneck pacing and foul-mouthed characters, a farcical collection of flakes, losers, and phonies, is a surprisingly humane account of what fools we mortals be. It is one of the oddest buddy films ever made, with extraordinary performances by Jeff Bridges and John Goodman. In this study, The Big Lebowski is set into the context of 1990s Hollywood cinema, anatomised for its witty relationship with the classics which it satirises, and discussed in terms of its key theme: the hopeless flailing of ridiculously unmanly men in the world of discombobulated, mixed-up, or put-on identities that is Los Angeles.

Genres: Film, Nonfiction, Media Tie In

123 pages, Paperback

First published June 27, 2007

About the author

J.M. Tyree is the Nonfiction Editor of New England Review. He was a Keasbey Scholar at Trinity College, Cambridge, and a Truman Capote-Wallace Stegner Fellow and Jones Lecturer in Fiction at Stanford University. He currently teaches as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at VCUarts (Virginia Commonwealth University).

Reviews

[Moshtagh hosein · Rating 4 out of 5]

مناسب برای طرفداران فرقه دودیسم و دوستداران فیلم لباوفسکی بزرگ.
(دود همیشه زنده ست.)

[Iman Rouhipour · Rating 4 out of 5]

اگر مثل من فیلم «لباوسکی بزرگ» رو صد‌و‌شصت بار دیدید، خوندن این کتاب بر شما واجبه.

[Ross Maclean · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book, and thorough.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awww man what a treat this book is!

I bloody LOVE The Big Lebowski. I have to watch at least once or twice a year. And I dream to be as zen like as The Dude!

This short but ever so sweet book by J M Tyree is everything that is cool about TBL. I loved to hear how there are Lebowksi conventions where people dress up as The Dude! I loved reading about the Coen brothers and their particular methods of film making, including their lack of deviation from the written script. There are discussions here about the subverting of traditional masculinity and the meaning of true but very odd friendships, issues of integrity, loyalty and sincerity. I loved how the film always gets back to The Dude's rug and how it "really brought the room together"!

This is a pure treat if you're a fan of the film. I could read this till the cows come home man!

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A deep dive into the meaning of the movie The Big Lebowski.

Very deep. I learned a lot. It’s my favorite movie but I could not pinpoint everything I liked about it, or why.
I learned more about how the Cohen brothers made fun of some classic noir crime thrillers. The Dude is in many ways their direct opposite.

I really enjoyed learning more (Paraquat: A chemical used to destroy marijuana crops).

[gradedog · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second book in the British Film Institute’s Film Classics series. The Big Lebowski is a movie that I’ve seen multiple times and enjoy every time. What I can say about reading this treatise on the film is I now have a better understanding of many of the things, and what have ya, I didn’t realize are why I enjoy the film. I also have come to understand how little a drop in the bucket I have experience in watching and understanding cinema. Maybe I have learned that I have enough understanding of cinema (I got an A in a Humanities Through Film course in college after all) that I can more appreciate how little I know. This book was as much about TBL in particular as it was about the Coen brothers, and their films, and their making, in general.

Some standout realizations from reading this book:
- I need to see all the Coen movies I haven’t seen yet. I sense a marathon soon.
- Coen Brothers movies have some common consistent elements in them I hadn’t realized. E.g. a recurring examination of masculinity that often turns traditional views around and even gives typical masculine behaviors to female characters.
- I had not thought through just how much TBL is a satire of the noir genre, and Raymond Chandler and The Big Sleep in particular.
- I don’t know shit about noir films or books. I think I want to read some now and watch some films.
- Finally, so many rabbit holes! I don’t think I have time enough to consume all the books and films and shows in which I am already interested, when the fuck am I going to have time to read Chandler and watch old detective movies?!?

So many BFI books. Do I dare read more?

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains a few interesting insights, notably the way the stylistic mish-mash of the film resembles the variety of isolated subcultures of Los Angeles and the way the film fits into an oeuvre-spanning critique of masculinity on the part of the Coens; a late comparison to authors of postmodern literature such as David Foster Wallace and Dave Eggers was intriguing, but was thrown in the mix much too late to become substantively developed in any way. Overall, the authors spend a lot of time fleshing out ideas that are not hugely original and thus fail to shed much new light on the subject matter, only elucidating in slightly greater detail what's already fairly widely understood. They mentioned in the beginning that they hoped not to overwhelm the comedy of the film by focusing overly much on the themes, but honestly, they really don't do the comedy or the themes justice. And my goodness, there are some jarring factual errors here, for example, the claim that John Travolta is reading Madame Bovary on the toilet in Pulp Fiction, instead of the could-hardly-be-more-different Modesty Blaise.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book was great. a must read for any fan of the coen brothers and/or modern and noir film fans.

[Phil Egan · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are many Lebowski books. This is the best I have read. Takes itself surprisingly seriously with good effect.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entries in the BFI Film Classics series are uneven, and often too short to offer much detail. This volume, on the Coen Brothers’ cult classic, is merely good, not great. The authors chose to use their limited space for a limited number of subjects. The bulk of the book explores how The Big Lebowski is heavily indebted to 1940s hardboiled detective fiction and film noir like the work of Howard Hawks, Dashiell Hammett, and Raymond Chandler. Also, there is a section on how the film depicts satirically masculinity, and how Maude is arguably the one respectable character besides the protagonist. References to the Coen Brothers’ earlier films are very frequent and the author assume that the reader will already be familiar with them.

Other information about the film than that, such as choices made during production, is largely scattered as trivia. I am grateful to this book for revealing some new sides to The Big Lebowski that I can enjoy in future viewings. Still, I was left wanting a longer and more detailed look at the production and the experience of the cast than offered here.

[Logan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man."

“The Big Lebowski” utilizes a plethora of character types throughout its two hour run-time. One with a startlingly lack of, but overflowing identity is Donny. “Donny’s identity – never strongly expressed – is further weakened by the constantly changing names embroidered onto his thrift-store bowling shirts.” (26). Do the changing names take away his identity or simply make him unable to be pinned down? Although he has such a rotation of physical names, almost every time he is addressed by either the Dude or Walter, they include his real name. With the influx of new characters in the film, if not for the running joke of “shut the fuck up Donny” throughout, they could have replaced Steve Buscemi with the original owner of the thrifted bowling shirts and not much would have changed. He became both an individual and a nameless pawn. He is typically seen as a separate entity to the Dude and Walter, while still balancing out the three in shots. I am deeply envious of his fashion.

[Jack Mansfield · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on J.M. Tyree and Ben Walters’ review of The Big Lebowski having previously read an excellent exploration of When Harry Met Sally, but this entry in the BFI Film Classics series is far too bogged down in comparison to other works and critics for me. Tyree and Walters hop from quote to quote from a variety of other writers, they pull on an interesting thread linking Lebowski to the movies of Howard Hawks and Raymond Chandler and run far too long with it, and they rely heavily on the Coen Brothers’ wider oeuvre to make a point about Lebowski.

I would have enjoyed this more had there been a greater exploration into Lebowski itself, as they do very well at the beginning and end of the book. Tyree and Walters examine both the aspects in the movie that make it a cult classic, as well as how that cultural impact has manifested over the years (the Dudefests look like a hell of a party), and to me these were the most interesting parts of this one.

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have struggled with this film. Tried watching it twice, years apart, and got about halfway, thinking, “what’s the fucking point here??” But recently, on cable, I caught some of the back half, including the trippy dream sequence and saw there was more going on. And this here little book has helped show me the way. I think I get it now. I stand corrected. I, too, will abide.

I deeply respect the Coens though they have always been hit or miss for me — loved “Fargo”, “Llewyn Davis”, “Buster Scruggs” and “No Country” and well enjoyed “O Brother”, “Barton Fink”, “Man Who Wasn’t There” and “Serious Man” but didn’t at all care for “Raising Arizona”, “Hail, Caesar!”, “Miller’s Crossing” or “Blood Simple”.... and maybe it’s life’s lack of perfect formula that makes it so damn interesting.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

In their analysis of The Big Lebowski, the authors catch the anti-materialism, warmth, and humanity in the work of Joel and Ethan Coen that too many critics who label them as cold stylists or postmodern ironists keep missing.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

essential for anyone who loves this film or is a fan of the Coen brothers. two of the giants of modern art, deserving of deep inquiry and exegesis. I'm pairing this with Tyree's excellent book on Pynchon's Inherent Vice, The Counterforce.

[Amin369 · Rating 4 out of 5]

برای من هرچی فیلم ساخته شده یه طرف، لبافسکی بزرگ یه طرف. این اثر واقعا شگفت انگیزه و تکامل هر شاخصه ای که یک فیلم باید داشته باشه مخصوصا شخصیت پردازی. کوئن ها معجزه کردن واقعا. کتاب هم برای دونستن یه سری چیزا درباره فیلم جالبه.
کنار هم بمونیم.

[Gary Ellenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most cinematic analysis, it’s too wordy. But any exploration into such a wonderful film is worth the time to read.

[Amrli]

Yeah, well, you know that's just, like, your opinion, man.

Jeff Lebowski

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides an analysis of the film ‘The Big Lebowski’.

I have never seen the film, but I have heard about it, so picked up this book, out of curiosity, from the library. This book was a relatively quick read (around 90 minutes) and the first few pages were interesting, containing a few insights, but then the analysis seemed to get lost / confused.

It did make a convincing argument for the main character to be thought of a hero with a clear moral code and I thought the last few sentences, concerning not chasing money / status / etc. and just enjoying the here and now, were spot on.

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some unexpected free time this April allowed me to revisit the Coen brothers classic The Big Lebowski via the BFI Film Classic monograph by J.M. Tyree and Ben Walters. I am really enjoying this series. There's basically four sections and the first "The mix-tape Movie" discusses the seemingly unrelated discrepancies in the film like the Dude's friendship with Walter, the dream sequences, and that picture of Nixon bowling in the Dude's room. Section Two, "Out of the Past" discusses the film in connection to Howard Hawks' film version of The Big Sleep and the novel it was adapted from by Raymond Chandler. The third section, "What Makes A Man?" is concerned with the Coen's concept of masculinity and the idea of the hero in connection with subverting Chandler's version of the modern noir hero. And the last section, "The Religion of Laughter," looks at the really important themes of the film that counteract the criticism of the Coens being cold, calculating and heartless in their film making: the film is essentially about the friendship and democratic fun that bowling gives people. It was another chance to revisit a film that never fails to entertain on repeat viewings-the mark of a true classic.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't tell me much I didn't know about "Lebowski" or its production, though it did make a great argument for the Dude as a genuine hero with a defined moral code, tying together the Big Lebowski's line about "what is a man?" with the use Dylan's "The Man in Me" and the Dude's actions throughout. Read it in one sitting, more or less, and it was far from the most unpleasant way I've ever passed a few hours.

[Rich · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of the BFI series books I've read so far are outstanding and insightful, and this one is no different. Definitely aimed towards the fan, it points out little details you probably don't notice (or at least that I didn't notice) and points out the Raymond Chandler tie-ins. Recommended for all Brother Shamus.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mostly unnecessary but plenty diverting. It pointed out a number of allusions I'd missed, but the real prize is finally figuring out what the "human paraquat" line is all about.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good companion to the film. Opens up some additional metaphors. Interesting without falling into fan boy territory.

[Ken French · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit long winded and serious for such a fun movie.

[Clara Raubertas · Rating 5 out of 5]

found this at the public library: awesome! full of sweet photo juxtapositions. J and I are reading it aloud together.