Brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have been making movies for the last twenty years and are responsible for pictures such as the Big Lebowski, Fargo and their recent hit No Country For Old Men, which has received critical acclaim.Older brother Joel began his career as a production assistant in 1981 working on The Evil Dead, which was to be his first feature film.In 1985 the brothers made their directorial debut with Blood Simple, with Joel directing and Ethan producing. Starring Frances McDormand, who Joel would go on to marry, Blood Simple follows a bar owner who hires a private detective to kill his wife and her lover.The film went on to win director's prizes at Sundance and the Independent Spirit Awards.Their next collaboration was Raising Arizona starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter, despite not being a blockbuster hit at the time it has gone on to gain cult status.
They moved into the gangster genre with their next picture Miller's Crossing in the early nineties, boosting their reputation as a great directing, producing and writing team, the film went on to be named one of the hundred greatest films ever made.
Their profile was raised even higher with the release of Barton Fink in 1991.
Loosely based on playwright Clifford Odets the film follows Barton Fink, who moved from New York to Los Angeles to write a movie script.
The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes as well as winning Best Director and Best Actor for John Tururro.
It went on to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Michael Lerner, Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and Best Costume Design at the Oscars.
After the failure of their first big budget feature film The Hudsucker Proxy they returned to low budget picture with Fargo.
The film follows cash strapped Jerry Lundegaard who plans to have his wife kidnapped so her wealthy father could pay the ransom.
Fargo was a critical and commercial success and went on to win two Academy Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actress in a Leading Role for Frances McDormand.
More recently the brothers remade 1955 classic The Ladykillers starring Tom Hanks, it was to be the first time that they were to share the directing and producing credits.
However the brothers received some of the poorest comments and reviews of their careers.
But it's their latest movie No Country for Old Men that has given them the best reviews and a whole host of awards.
Based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and follows Llewelyn (Josh Brolin) who finds two million dollars after a drug deal goes wrong.
He if forced to go on the run after a killer Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is hired to find the missing case.
The film has gone on to win a string of critics' association for Best Picture and Best Director with the American Film Institute naming it the AFI Movie of the Year 2007.
It also received nominations for the Golden Globes, including Best Picture and Best Director, but it lost out on Best Picture to Atonement and Best Director to Julian Schnabel, and is hotly tipped to be Oscar nominated.
The Brothers are currently working with Brad Pitt and George Clooney on Burn After Reading where a gym trainer tries to blackmail a member of the CIA after he finds a disc the agent left behind at his gym. Burn After Reading will be released later this year.
No Country For Old Men is released 18th January.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw