The incongruity so enjoyed by the Coens: Bernie Bernbaum (John Turturro) cowers before Tom Reagan (Gabriel Byrne) in an idyllic setting.
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AT THE START of production for Miller’s Crossing in January 1989, cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld asked writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen an obvious but necessary question: how did they want the film to look? “It should be a handsome movie,” Ethan told him, distinguishing it instantly from the madcap, camera-whirling antics of the trio’s previous collaboration, Raising Arizona. “A handsome movie about men in hats.”