Boardwalk Empire: A Hint of Coen

Boardwalk Empire is the latest in a magnificent line of long-running HBO series’. It is currently in its third season and contrary to my initial prediction, is getting better and better as it rumbles on. The show is set on the East Coast of the US in the 20’s/30’s and centres around the effect that the Prohibition has on a variety of characters, both real and fictional.

There are many things that make me keep watching the series including the fantastic quality of the acting. From Steve Buscemi as Nookie Thompson based on the infamous politician Enoch L. Johnson to Michael Stuhlbarg as high class gangster Arnold Rothstein, there is a huge amount of acting talent in Boardwalk Empire. I also can’t get enough of the fantastic noir feel of the series which manages to maintain a vivid colour palette while still providing that beautifully dark noir tone. I feel that my love for 1920’s America may have something to do with my admiration of the series though as it is simply bursting with 20’s music, fashion, architecture and cars.

One thing that is becoming more and more apparent as the show continues however is it’s startling closeness to the artistic style of the Coen Brothers. From the pitch-black comedy we’re used to from films such as Fargo to the philosophically-rich dialogue that runs through most of the Coen’s work, the more I watch Boardwalk Empire, the more it seems like one super long Coen Brothers Masterpiece.

Even the actors wouldn’t be out of place in a Coen Brothers film, with Steve Buscemi being a particular favourite of the Brothers, starring in five of their films. Stephen Root is also a series regular who has starred in three Coen Films as well as Michael Stuhlbarg and Kelly Macdonald who have each appeared in a single Coen film.

I’m not sure of the reason for these apparent stylistic similarities. I can’t seem to find any serious link between the Coen Brothers and Boardwalk Empire, so either a large number of the cast and crew are Coen Brothers fans or my Coen obsessed mind is seeing stylistic similarities which aren’t really there. Maybe it’s a combination of the two. Either way, Boardwalk Empire is, in my opinion, rapidly approaching the dizzy heights of its legendary HBO cousins. Will we eventually be mentioning it in the same sentence as The Wire and The Sopranos? Only time will tell. In the meantime, soak up this Coen-esque delight, you won’t regret it.