This is the scarce international one sheet for the original release of the much-loved Coen Brothers classic, The Big Lebowski (opens in a new tab). Jeff Bridges (opens in a new tab) stars as The Dude, a lifelong slacker who also happens to share his name with a millionaire philanthropist with a trophy wife who owes money to a shady pornographer. A pair of hired goons break into his place, rough him up and urinate on his rug (as reflected in the sunglasses on this poster). When the goons realise they have the wrong man they leave The Dude alone but, after consulting with his friends Walter (a memorable turn by John Goodman (opens in a new tab)) and Donny (Steve Buscemi (opens in a new tab)), he decides to seek out the real Lebowski to seek compensation for the rug, but things start to spiral out of control when the wife is kidnapped and he agrees to help secure her return.

To say the film has become something of a cultural phenomenon since its release in 1998 would be an understatement. As well as a worldwide legion of fans, there’s the annual Lebowski-Fest (opens in a new tab), which started in 2002 in Louisville, Kentucky and has since been held in several other cities. Jeff Bridges iconic ‘The Dude’ character is even the focus behind a form of religion called Dudeism (opens in a new tab).

I’d have a hard time choosing between this and Fargo (opens in a new tab) as my favourite Coen Brothers film, although Raising Arizona (opens in a new tab) and Barton Fink  (opens in a new tab)are also strong contenders.

I recently spotted this rather excellent GIF.