Extra Credit: The Man Who Wasn't There

Recently, I watched the Coen Brother's The Man Who Wasn't There and I must say that Ed Crane shares a remarkable amount of similarities with Meursault in The Stranger. In the first five minutes of the film, there is already a substantial amount of evidence that allows me to make such a claim.

1. Ed’s job as a barber was never a conscious decision that Ed made. It was more he married into it and just never bothered to seek out something he enjoys. Like Meursault, there isn’t any attachment to what he does with his life.
2. Furthermore, when he describes his job, he compares himself to his talkative brother-in-law and states that he prefers to just cut the hair without much chit chat. In The Stranger, Meursault never goes out of his way to say more than what needs to be said. The way the dialogue is written almost parallels the same way Ed speaks.
3. The way Ed describes his home is very similar to Meursault’s description of his apartment. Both talk about the small things they like about their living spaces but never explicitly state their love for the place or whether they’d prefer to live elsewhere. They both seem content to just have a place that provides a bed and a roof over their head.

Later in the film, excluding all the weird parts like the UFO and Ed's relationship with Birdy, there are several parallels between the end of the film compared to The Stranger.

1. One of the final scenes, there is a moment that strikes as very familiar and that is the last intervention with the priest and Ed. It’s a very short clip but I couldn’t help but remember Meursault’s last conversation with the priest.
2. The accident with Scarlett Johansson (I know it’s Birdy but I only see her as Scarlett) is another important scene which can be easily translated into The Stranger. Specifically, the scene with Meursault and when he murders the Arab. In the film, Ed says time slows down which allows him to process his thoughts. Of course, immediately after the murder in the book, we don’t see Meursault's thought process but there is a pause in time when Meursault is staring down the Arab right before the murder. The gap of time between when Meursault meets the Arab and when he shoots the gun is very similar to the time after the accident in the film.

There’s plenty of other similarities between the two and I would have loved to hear what the group talked about after the movie night (especially the role of the UFO). Overall, the Coen Brothers do a remarkable job of creating a film noir and, even though they both have very distinct features, are able to capture what it means to be a "stranger" to society.