He has no opportunity to mount a defence. The cowboy certainly does try to commit the crime of bank robbery in the first place, but is sentenced to death by a group of men while he is unconscious. The note of the death penalty cannot be avoided in examining this chapter and, when viewed within the context of the overall theme, the nonsensical and problematic nature of this outdated policy becomes even more blatant. At the point of his execution, he is distracted by a pretty woman in the crowd, and it is implied that he dies with a smile. Saved by a passing cowboy, he then unwittingly finds himself allied with a rustler, and is again sentenced to death.

This encounter leads to an attempted execution by law enforcement, which is interrupted by an attack by an Indigenous war party. The Teller recounts his past experience with being held up, before fighting off the cowboy’s attempts to take the bank’s cash. Inside, he finds a lonely Teller (Stephen Root) and asks him if he’s ever been robbed. The second chapter – Near Algodones – opens with a cowboy (James Franco) approaching an isolated bank. Likewise, the frontier period setting leaves the presence of women as mere set dressing, with well-dressed ladies working in the background of the saloon specifically to entertain the male customers, and generate additional income for the establishment. The obsession with guns, the violence freely committed with a smile and song in the heart, and the notion of having to knock another down in order to succeed is all contained within this briefly told short story. Violence still erupts in this ‘gun-free zone,’ however. Locations are contrasted between a lawless cantina, and a saloon in which patrons must check their guns at the door. This vignette, while setting up the overall theme of the anthology, serves as a searing indictment of the darker side of American culture. Through various interactions – including Buster breaking the fourth wall – we learn that Buster is a renowned killer, who is wanted, dead or alive. He is an amiable but deadly gunslinger, who rides through the ‘wild west’ on his trusty steed, singing and playing guitar. Opening with The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs, we meet the titular character, played by Tim Blake Nelson.

While each chapter tells a different story, about different characters, each relates to the idea that ‘You can’t play another man’s hand.’ Four of the six chapters are about men ( The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs, Near Algodones, Meal Ticket, and All Gold Canyon), one is about a woman ( The Gal Who Got Rattled), and the sixth includes a woman in its otherwise male ensemble ( The Mortal Remains). It is a tightly woven ‘Western Anthology’ film, in that it consists of six vignettes – all set on the American ‘frontier.’ The film is framed within the narrative device of an old story book that is illustrated with colour plates, and moves through its six chapters at a steady, assured pace. But, it is fitting that The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs is the project with which The Coen Brothers should take this step, because it is, in many ways, a direct note to audiences. While the streaming platform has been making great strides in the commissioning of original movies, landing a Coen Brothers project is a huge leap for an organisation that has consistently stoked heated debate about the future of cinema. It is the first time The Coen Brothers have shot a film digitally, and it is the first time they have made a film with Netflix. The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs is an interesting event in film. This is important to note, because The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs is one of the best Coen Brothers films ever made, while also seeming to be something of an answer to that very argument. Even those films that include notable women characters – such as Fargo, Raising Arizona, Intolerable Cruelty, or Burn After Reading – feature those characters as essentially Token Women, within a story that revolves around male dominance. Their stories are entirely male-centric, and are filled with overwhelmingly white casts.

The Coen Brothers might be legendary filmmakers, but they are not known for their intersectional feminism.

Ballad of buster scruggs