No Country for Old Men (2007) - Sheriff Bell's dreams (Tommy Lee Jones)

Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on Cormac McCarthy's 2005 novel of the same name.

Dream #1

The first one I don't remember too well, but it was about meeting him in town, somewheres, and he give me some money. I think I lost it.

Dream #2

Second one, it was like we was both back in older times. And I was a-horseback, going through the mountains of a night. Going through this pass in the mountains. It was cold, and there was snow on the ground. And he rode past me and kept on going, never said nothing going by, just rode on past. He had his blanket wrapped around him and his head down. When he rode past, I seen he was carrying fire in a horn, the way people used to do, and I... I could see the horn from the light inside of it, 'bout the color of the moon. And, in the dream, I knew that he was going on ahead. He was fixin' to make a fire somewhere out there in all that dark and cold. And I knew that whenever I got there, he'd be there. And then I woke up.

[double-og]

His dream monologue is word for word from the book's final paragraph. Tommy Lee Jones delivered it 110%

[bigal]

0:13 "maybe I'll go riding" He was still thinking of the dream with his father.

[bneide]

I feel this film has the most natural dialogue I've ever heard. That is actually how people speak. In most films people seem overly clever or witty but in this film they seem so natural. 

[J_heterodox]

“I knew that when I got there…he’d be there.”

What a final line. Even through all the life he has lived and even being an old man now, he still yearns for the comfort his father once gave him. We are all eventually truly alone.

[azaz]

In the opening scene sheriff Bell reflects on his worldview. He mentions how the old-timers used to not wear guns, and how that is difficult to understand for many. He feels as if the times have changed. He longs for a time where morale and reason existed, a time where things made sense. He mentions the recent murder of a 14-year old girl, whom the murderer killed simply because he wanted to kill someone. Bell struggles to make sense of the rationality of it, there was no incentive to kill, like jealousy, money or even hate. Bell can't recognize this world represented by chaos and disorder, and he looks back in time with nostalgia, thinking of clear contradictions that made sense to him, like good and bad, right or wrong, and feels as though they can no longer apply to the world he has now grown old in. There is no salvation in getting old for him, as he can only see himself growing increasingly distant from the reality of the world he inhabits.
The constantly sounded wind in the background represents the equally constant passing of time. The wind is always there, and Bell can't find shelter from it, he keeps growing older and he can't escape the reality that no salvation has occured to him, not in the form of God, and not in any other forms. The wind will "move him on", just like it did to his father and everyone else who has walked the earth.

When Bell meets with Ellis, Ellis tells him the story of how Uncle Mac back in time was shot cold-blooded in his doorway in front of his wife, by a group of indians, seemingly for no reason. Bell hearing this, realizes that the "old times" he so glorifies, maybe never actually existed, since the senselessness of the killing corresponds with the senselessness that he now finds in the world.
Now knowing that this world offers no redemption, Bell subconsciously realizes that his only chance of finding redemption is in death.
That is exactly what Bell's second dream is about. He dreams that his father rides ahead of him (into death) with a light, a light representing the hope of a better world, and his dad representing the good old values, that Bell can no longer find in this world and that never really existed elsewhere than in his own mind, but which he can only hope will exist in the world where his dad is now waiting for him.

[Fan_Made_Videos]

In an earlier scene where Llewellyn is at the hotel hiding with the money there's a painting on the wall in his room of two horsemen in the mountains looking off into the distance.

[keithhiggins]

When I was a younger man, and felt myself to be immortal, I probably wouldn't have understood. Now, in the eighth decade of my life, it's all too clear. Brilliant, compelling, earthy performances from both Jones and Harper. Her almost imperceptible indications of compassion and understanding are as good as Jones' struggle with the emotions inside himself. This is acting, in the best sense. Very special.

[mattsuperfreak]

That ticking clock in the background is so eerie and brilliant

[alejoparedes]

How Tommy Lee Jones didn't win the Oscar for this is beyond me.

[thecinematicmind]

Rest in Peace
Cormac McCarthy
1933-2023

[dfk]

First time watching this: "Wtf? That's it?"
Second time watching this: "Holy shit. This is a masterpiece."

[joefelipe]

"in all that dark, and all that cold"

His story paints a beautiful picture

[ZAPATSTA]

I loved the ending. The world turns, you cant contain the darkness. You can only continue the journey. I felt the 2nd dream was his realization his own mortality. The darkness (or beyond) is unknown & scary to him. Yet he knows that if he just continues forward he'll meet his father again. Waiting for him, protecting him from the dark. Then he wakes up. The clock counts down and he's aware, he'll die one day. He can't stop the evil of this world. He can only keep moving forward & one day see his father again. I felt it was beautiful.

[robertcrist]

"What you got is nothing new. You can't stop what's coming. That's called vanity. " Best line in the show because it's true.

[WiIdbiII]

My father passed away 14 years ago. I only dreamed him once after he passed away. He was walking off into a snow flurry, eventually the snow became so thick, that I couldn't see him no longer. That was the only time I saw him in a dream. He was the best father anyone could ever ask for. Dreams are strange things.

[thedarklordpeaceout]

"Then I woke up"
Perhaps the best final four lines of a film I've heard

[siphillis]

Rest in Peace, Cormac McCarthy. I hope whenever I get there, you'll be there.

[doomstan]

When he says "and then i woke up", It seems like he's awakening from the dream of a world rid of violence and vices. After seeing all the deaths throughout the movie that he couldn't stop all he does is give up on the dream and rememberance of better days back in his old days because there never was any "better days". He can finally retire from being sheriff since he now realizes that he can't change the way the world works. His time has passed, hence the name "No Country for Old Men".

[RS]

One of my favorite scenes in a movie. It's so naturally delivered by Tommy, and so haunting. The abrupt ending after he finishes talking feels perfect to me. The Cohens are masterful storytellers.

[ronaldo]

My dad is still alive (in the next room lol) and this scene always makes me miss him. I know I’m gonna wake up in tears when I’m an older man and having dreams about my father being the younger man. Dreading the day I lose my pop.