: Various reviews on Project MUSE analyze how the film uses "repetition and the uncanny"—such as Bernie Bernbaum reliving his own execution—to produce disturbing noir effects.
: The presence or absence of hats is a major visual motif representing a character's control or vulnerability. Academics often debate whether this was a conscious symbolic choice or the Coens simply playing with noir tropes for visual effect. Recommended Scholarly Resources Miller's Crossing(1990)
: Some scholars argue that the film explicitly refers to "The Great Gangster Trilogy" ( Little Caesar , Public Enemy , and Scarface ) only to undermine the very concept of genre. It uses standard "semantic" elements—like fedoras, tommy guns, and fixed fights—but arranges them in a "syntactic" structure that subverts typical gangster movie expectations. : Various reviews on Project MUSE analyze how