Chigurh's final scene and fate vs chance

Chigurh's final scene subverts expectations of the viewer and the consistency of his character whilst still conveying the theme of fate vs chance. For example, the scene where Carla Jean and Chigurh have their confrontation, they are both framed in the center and at the foreground of each of their shot. This is also followed by multiple shot reverse shot of them staring directly at each other. Not only does this continue a recurring theme throughout the film and the consistency of how the film is shot but also creates an intensity to the scene: the quick cuts back and forth causes the viewer to feel nervous and wonder if Chigurh is about to kill her. This idea is subverted when she is killed off screen, the same as her husband. Maybe this is done just to create dramatic irony or maybe it is a conscience move by the Coen brothers not to upset the the audience because of the innocence of Carla Jean's character and killing her on screen would be to upsetting or unnecessary.

The mise-en-scene of this scene is used to visually depict Chigurh's and Carla Jean's characters. Carla Jean is wearing a black dress and a gold necklace: now within the context of the story, it is because she has just been to her mother's funeral. However it may also be depicting how she is still in grieving for Moss, a character who had been killed not to long ago. This makes the audience empathise with her more because of her abundance of loss has been followed by being confronted by Chigurh, who is most likely going to kill her. However the gold necklace maybe depicting something else: Gold typically connotes wealth, perhaps being a reference to the wealth Moss had come into possession earlier in the film. Furthermore the necklace is quite close to her neck. This along with the framing of it in the close up of Carla Jean could be depicting how the necklace is symbolic how she is keeping Moss close to her and this is her way of remembering him. 

On the other hand with Chigurh, he continues to wear his unusual and out of ordinary clothing. Throughout the film we see him wear the same clothes in every scene he is in. This maybe done to furthermore depict how strange his character is compared to everyone else in the story. Another thing to note about the mise-en-scene is this scene is the lighting. The character sit on two different side of the room: Carla Jean on the side where the light's shining in and Chigurh in the dark corner. The light on Carla Jean's side represents how she is innocent and benevolent one, the only one in the film who is really 100% innocent. The dark on Chigurh's side represents the mystery and darkness that he is shrouded in. This creates a clear visual contrast and symbolise their different ideologies and personalities.

The theme of fate vs chance is a theme that has followed Chigurh's character around the film. An example of this is the coin toss scene where he lets the coin choose Carla Jean's fate instead of himself. Chigurh clearly believes that whether people die or not is fate and it cannot be changed. He is firmly sure of this belief as he keeps hold of the coin throughout the film. Maybe the conflict that he comes into with Moss and Bell is him fighting for that belief and Bell fights for the the more moral and humane way of thinking and Moss is the grey area. However, his ideology is debunked and broken down by Carla Jean: Carla Jean, who is most normal and ordinary person of the film transgresses Chigurh's ideology with a more humane and moral way of thinking. Carla Jean represents the belief of chance and Chigurh is fate. Both of them are sure of their beliefs because throughout the scene they do not break eye contact, representing their confidence in the views and how they won't back down to the other. This is until Chigurh tells Carla Jean to "call it" and she responds with "coin doesn't have no say" and that Chigurh is the one who chooses if she dies. When this happens he looks away from Carla Jean and looks at the wall. The breaking of eye contact shows how Carla Jean's ideology has caused Chigurh to break his stoic way of thinking and reevaluate his ideology.

In this scene, another small detail in the scene is how Chigurh has tears in his eyes. This is a strange detail deliberately put in by the Coen brothers: crying is human emotion and throughout the film Chigurh was being depicted as inhumane. I believe that this could be because of the death of Moss. For example, Chigurh is a hitman with the task of killing Moss for taking the drug money. Throughout the film he commits a series of crimes (the murders) that are catalysts for getting to Moss and killing him, justifying his action in a immoral and inhumane way. However, this is transgressed when Moss, the protagonist, being killed by a random gang in the third act. Not only does this subvert the typical conventions of the western genre (the protagonist being killed off screen) but also the expectations of the viewer because Chigurh doesn't kill him, despite a confrontation between the two of them being built up throughout the film previously. Now that Moss is dead, Chigurh does not have a goal anymore and, by proxy, the crimes that he had committed previously have no justification now. Perhaps him crying is the realisation that fate isn't what chooses how you die and that it is chance (because if Moss wasn't at the pool he wouldn't of been killed) and that also he is now just a cold blooded killer with no ends: a monster for the sake of being one.

In my opinion, Chigurh's ending is great because because it perfectly ends his character in a way that visually subverts his ideology. The scene in the car is purposely trying to make the audience relax. Not only because Chigurh is sitting down and driving a car, a pretty normal thing. But also the sound design is quiet with a focus on diegetic sound. This is transgressed by the sound design being loud and abrupt to emphasise the abruptness of a car crash and catch the audience and Chigurh off guard. This is a visual statement of how Chigurh was wrong about fate because he didn't expect the car crash to happen. Throughout the film, Chigurh has presented himself in a calm and methodical manner. This is due to his firm belief in what he was doing was caused by fate and not himself. Now that Moss' death and the confrontation with Carla Jean has destabilised his ideology, that calm and stoic appearance is gone along with it, perfectly transgressing his character. It also furthermore subverts the conventions of the western, with Chigurh (antagonist) surviving and getting away. Chigurh just leaving the film represents how his job in the film is done and perhaps is a callback to how we never see him arrive in the film he is just already there, with no explanation of where he came from.