While some technical craftsman like James Cameron and David Fincher learn how to take apart and rebuild film equipment, the secret skill of The Coen Brothers is their ability to budget and schedule. Part of their pitch is knowing the commercial limits of the project they want to make. This personal film, a modern Jewish parable, was never going to set the world on fire, but they secured $7 million dollars because they were coming off No Country and Burn After Reading. Their name was the draw, more than any actor. (After this would be True Grit, which had big movie stars and their biggest budget. It would be their biggest hit.) A Serious Man made $31 million at the box office, a profitable return on investment.
Near the end of film, Larry Gopnik is writing down grades in a notebook, and you see the last name in the book is Zophres, Mary. Mary Zophres has been Costume Designer on every Coen Brothers since Fargo. She has Oscar nominations for True Grit, Buster Scruggs, La La Land and Babylon. She came up under Richard Hornung, who designed Raising Arizona, Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, and The Hudsucker Proxy. The Costume budget for A Serious Man was around $30,000. Interesting fact I learned from her, period costumes often require period undergarments or else the clothes won’t fit properly.
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