Anton Chigurh from No Country for Old Men: The Essence of Evil

Javier Bardem's portrayal of Anton Chigurh in the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men is undoubtedly one of the most unforgettable psycho-killers in film history. With his exceptional hairstyle and unexceptional mechanic-like clothing, Chigurh’s eyes are filled with madness. The moment he opens his mouth or pulls out his cattle gun, you know he is the human embodiment of evil.

This role, which won Bardem an Oscar, has become a pop-culture icon. However, the general public may not be familiar with the same-named villain created by novelist Cormac McCarthy in the eponymous novel. The late McCarthy, regarded as one of the greatest contemporary American writers, is known for his uncompromising portrayal of violence—and the desire for violence is one of the hallmarks of American culture. In McCarthy's original novel, Anton Chigurh is the personification of violence, a sadistic figure who takes pleasure in his cruelty and, at times, seems like a villain from a Bond film, so wicked he almost borders on the comical.

The Coen Brothers, however, made significant minimalist alterations to Chigurh’s character during the adaptation process. They removed his emotional expressions, motives, and outward obsession with violence, shaping him instead as an existential and mythical figure. In the film, murder is as natural to Chigurh as breathing. His behavior is mechanical, making him not only inhumane but literally inhuman. These changes make the Coen Brothers' version of Chigurh far more chilling than McCarthy’s original depiction.

Let’s explore some of these adjustments in detail:

Less Emotion

If you read McCarthy's novel after watching the film, you might feel like you're reading the screenplay. The film is highly faithful to the book, almost word for word. The story begins with Chigurh’s brutality—first, he strangles a police officer, then uses a cattle gun to kill an innocent driver. In the movie, Chigurh simply asks the man to step out of the car before swiftly killing him. But in the novel, he taunts the dead victim, saying, "I just didn’t want you to get blood on the car." In this scene, the novel emphasizes Chigurh's sadistic nature, whereas the film focuses on his indifference to violence.

The next chapter in the book features a gunfight where Chigurh approaches a man and says, "Don’t look away. I want you to look at me," before shooting him. This scene does not appear in the movie. The Coen Brothers would never be accused of softening the violence to make the film more palatable, as the violence in the movie is brutal and terrifying in its realism. However, the brothers’ adaptation creates a clear difference in Chigurh’s character: in the novel, his killings seem driven by pleasure, dissatisfaction, or even resentment, while in the film, Chigurh remains entirely emotionless when he commits violence. His brutality carries no emotion; his mental state from the start is disturbingly abnormal, almost like that of an evil deity.

Less Psychology

Sometimes, less really is more. The Coen Brothers’ approach to Chigurh in No Country for Old Men is a prime example of this artistic philosophy. Throughout the movie, we never learn where Chigurh is from, what he has done before, or what he is thinking. This is in stark contrast to the novel, where McCarthy often provides insight into Chigurh’s thoughts.

In the iconic scene where Chigurh kills fellow hitman Carson Wells (Woody Harrelson), his intentions remain shrouded in mystery. In the corresponding chapter of the novel, Chigurh’s dialogue with Wells is much longer, and he says, "Getting injured changed me... it changed my perspective." Chigurh then philosophizes about the logic behind his murders. However, the Coen Brothers’ version of Chigurh doesn’t need logic, doesn’t require an inner journey, nor does he undergo any character change. This method makes him more abstract, more mysterious, and far more chilling.

Similarly, at the end of the novel, Chigurh returns a briefcase of money to its owner. In typical McCarthy fashion, the ensuing conversation is both absurd and hauntingly bleak. Chigurh conducts what feels like an interview, telling the man, "The purpose of my visit is simply to establish my bonafide. As someone who is an expert in a difficult field. As someone who is completely reliable and completely honest."

This line makes Chigurh seem more like a quirky killer from a Quentin Tarantino film. But the Coen Brothers wisely excluded this scene from the movie because it adds complexity to Chigurh, making his motives and psychology more known. Removing this keeps Chigurh’s intentions and mindset opaque, thus differentiating him more clearly from other killers in film.

More Evil

Cormac McCarthy’s novel is a monumental work of contemporary American literature. He depicts Chigurh as a terrifying, sometimes even absurd, sociopath, but his portrayal diminishes the character’s mystery and abstraction because readers can diagnose him based on his symptoms. The Coen Brothers’ approach is the opposite: they provide no backstory, psychology, or motives in the film. Chigurh in the movie does not take pleasure in evil the way he sometimes does in the book, but this makes him more the embodiment of evil itself. This is exactly why he occupies such an exceptional position in the “pantheon” of movie villains.