A Serious Man Joel and Ethan Coen

Considerable attention was paid to the setting; it was important to the Coens to find a neighborhood of original-looking suburban rambler homes as they would have appeared in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, in the late 1960s. Locations were scouted in nearby Edina, Richfield, Brooklyn Center, and Hopkins[9] before a suitable location was found in Bloomington.[10] The film's look is partly based on the Brad Zellar book Suburban World: The Norling Photographs, a collection of photographs of Bloomington in the 1950s and 60s.[11]

Location filming began on September 8, 2008, in Minnesota. An office scene was shot at Normandale Community College in Bloomington. The film also used a set built in the school's library, as well as small sections of the second floor science building hallway. The synagogue is the B'nai Emet Synagogue in St. Louis Park. The Coens also shot some scenes in St. Olaf College's old science building because of its similar period architecture.[12][13] A classroom scene was shot at the then-closed Shingle Creek Elementary School in north Minneapolis, due to its 1960's-era design.[14] Scenes were also shot at the Minneapolis legal offices of Meshbesher & Spence, the name of whose founder and president, Ronald I. Meshbesher, is mentioned as the criminal lawyer recommended to Larry in the film.[15] Filming wrapped on November 6, 2008, after 44 days, ahead of schedule and within budget.[16]

Longtime collaborator Roger Deakins rejoined the Coens as cinematographer, following his absence from Burn After Reading. This was his tenth film with them.[17] Costume designer Mary Zophres returned for her ninth collaboration with the directors.[17]

The Coens themselves stated that the "germ" of the story was a rabbi from their adolescence: a "mysterious figure" who had a private conversation with each student at the conclusion of their religious education.[18] Ethan Coen said that it seemed appropriate to open the film with a Yiddish folk tale, but as the brothers did not know any suitable ones, they wrote their own.[19]

Open auditions for the roles of Danny and Sarah were held on May 4, 2008, at the Sabes Jewish Community Center in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, one of the scheduled shooting locations. Open auditions for the role of Sarah were also held in June 2008 in Chicago, Illinois.[4][20]

Patton Oswalt and Marc Maron auditioned for the roles of Arthur Gopnik and Larry Gopnik.[21][22]

Music

All of the film's original music is by Carter Burwell,[23] who also worked on every previous Coen brothers film except O Brother, Where Art Thou?[24] The film also contains pieces of Yiddish music including "Dem Milner's Trern" by Mark Warshawsky and performed by Sidor Belarsky, which deals with the abuse and recurring evictions of Jews from Shtetlekh.[25]

The soundtrack also includes the following songs by popular 1960s artists: