Coen

US film-makers. With Joel credited as director, Ethan as producer, and both as screenwriters (although, in effect, they share all these tasks), the Coen brothers have been responsible for a succession of stylish, offbeat movies. Their films include Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Barton Fink (1991; Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival), Fargo (1996), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000).

Other films include Miller's Crossing (1990), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), and Intolerable Cruelty (2003). In 1998 Ethan Coen published a collection of short stories entitled Gates of Eden and, in 2001, Joel Coen won the best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his film The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), sharing his award with US director David Lynch.

Joel Coen's wife, Frances McDormand, frequently stars in his films and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Fargo.