Editing Coen brothers (section)

=== 1980s ===
After graduating from [[New York University]], Joel worked as a [[production assistant]] on a variety of [[Sponsored film|industrial films]] and music videos. He developed a talent for film editing and met [[Sam Raimi]] while assisting Edna Ruth Paul in editing Raimi's first feature film, ''[[The Evil Dead]]'' (1981).<ref>{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Bruce|title=If Chins Could Kill|edition=First|publisher=LA Weekly Books|location=New York, NY|date=2002|page=129|isbn=0312291450}}</ref>

The duo made their debut with ''[[Blood Simple]]'' (1984). Set in [[Texas]], it tells the tale of a bar owner ([[Dan Hedaya]]) who hires a detective ([[M. Emmet Walsh]]) to kill his wife and her lover ([[Frances McDormand]] and [[John Getz]], respectively). It contains elements that point to their future direction: distinctive homages to genre movies (in this case [[film noir|noir]] and [[horror film|horror]]), [[plot twist]]s layered over a simple story, snappy dialogue and [[dark humor]]. [[Janet Maslin]] wrote: "The camera work by [[Barry Sonnenfeld]] is especially dazzling. So is the fact that Mr. Coen, unlike many people who have directed great-looking film noir efforts, knows better than to let handsomeness become the film's entire raison d'être. In addition to its stylishness, ''Blood Simple'' has the kind of purposefulness and coherence that show Mr. Coen to be headed for bigger, even better, things."<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Janet Maslin]]| work=[[The New York Times]]| title=Blood Simple: A Black-Comic Romp| date=October 12, 1984| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/12/movies/blood-simple-a-black-comic-romp.html}}</ref> Joel's direction was recognized at the [[Sundance Film Festival|Sundance]] and [[Independent Spirit]] awards.<ref name="BloodSimpleAwards">{{cite web|title=Blood Simple – Cast, Crew, Directors and Awards|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/6128/Blood-Simple/details|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151003201703/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/6128/Blood-Simple/details|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 3, 2015|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=2015|access-date=January 15, 2016}}</ref> It was the first film shot by Sonnenfeld, who collaborated with the Coens on their two subsequent films and went on to be a director. It marked the first of many collaborations between the Coens and composer [[Carter Burwell]]. It was also the screen debut of McDormand, who went on to feature in many of the Coens' films (and marry Joel).<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]]| date=September 8, 2014| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Blood Simple''| work=[[The Atlantic]]| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-coens-revisiting-blood-simple/379743/}}</ref>

Their next project was ''[[Crimewave]]'' (Raimi, 1985), written by the Coens and Raimi. Joel and Raimi also made [[cameo appearances|cameo]]s in ''[[Spies Like Us]]'' (1985).

The brothers wanted to follow their debut with something fast-paced and funny. ''[[Raising Arizona]]'' (1987) follows an unlikely married couple: ex-convict H.I. ([[Nicolas Cage]]) and police officer Ed ([[Holly Hunter]]), who long for a baby but are unable to conceive. When furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona ([[Trey Wilson]]) appears on television with his newly born quintuplets and jokes that they "are more than we can handle", H.I. steals one of the quintuplets to bring up as their own. [[Pauline Kael]] noted its "cornpone-surreal quality" and wrote that the Coens "are going with their strengths. They're making a contraption, and they're good at it because they know how to make the camera behave mechanically, which is just right here—it mirrors the mechanics of farce ... The Sunsets look marvellously ultra-vivid; the paint doesn't seem to be dry—it's like opening day at a miniature-golf course."<ref>{{cite magazine| author=[[Pauline Kael]]| title=Manypeeplia Upsidownia| date=April 12, 1987| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1987/04/20/manypeeplia-upsidownia}}</ref> [[Geoff Andrew]] wrote: "the lives and times of Hi, Ed and friends are painted in splendidly seedy colours, turning Arizona into a mythical haven for a memorable gaggle of no-hopers, halfwits and has-beens. Starting from a point of delirious excess, the film leaps into dark and virtually uncharted territory to soar like a comet."<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Geoff Andrew]]| work=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]]| title=Raising Arizona 1987, directed by Joel Coen| date=September 10, 2012| url= https://www.timeout.com/movies/raising-arizona}}</ref> The film featured McDormand, [[William Forsythe (actor)|William Forsythe]], [[Sam McMurray]], [[Randall "Tex" Cobb]] and marked the first of many collaborations between the Coens and [[John Goodman]].<ref>{{cite news| author=[[Christopher Orr (film critic)|Christopher Orr]]| date=September 9, 2014| title=30 Years of Coens: ''Raising Arizona''| work=[[The Atlantic]]| url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/09/30-years-of-the-coens-raising-arizona/379815/}}</ref>