Even with their slight misses, the Coen Brothers are certainly a couple of the most bankable writers and directors working in Hollywood. Despite their fairly indie back catalogue collection, the pair have managed to pull in about 500 million at the box office, and that doesn’t include DVD sales of old favourites like No Country for Old Men, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the wonderful Fargo.
The Coens always mean business, no project is taken too lightly and with that, they have carved out a niche as some of the best writers and directors to work with, almost occupying an area that Woody Allen likes to occupy, actors are falling at their feet to work with them. Even though they have been around for quite a while, and certainly well known in indie circles, it was really the wonderful No Country for Old Men and THAT performance from Javier Bardem which really pushed them into the mainstream.
Now, the Joel and Ethan Coen are household names that are constantly tied to brilliant productions. Inside Llewyn Davis is no exception.
Set in the folk scene of the 1960’s in Greenwich Village, we follow the haphazard life of one Llewyn Davis, a wayward singer who has lost his partner to some mystery but will carry on regardless. Llewyn is a lost soul, a talented writer but always in need of that shadow that seems to follow him around.
Despite the fact that he spends most of the film couch surfing, looking for the next gig, waiting for a big break, Llewyn’s one constant seems to be the woman who hates him most in life, Jean who lives with her singer/songwriter partner Jim. It couldn’t necessarily be called love, but there is a co-dependence that exists between the two that is almost inexplicable. However, their lack of impact on the film is not unlike the rest of the characters who seem to flit in and out of Llewyn’s life, carefully painting a picture of the struggling artist at the time.
With various nods to acts of the 1960’s, the film is actually based on a real person, Dave Van Ronk, a somewhat legendary figure in folk circles who was befriended by the likes of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Tom Paxton. Van Ronk’s life is very much like the Coen Brothers character Llewyn, influential on those around him but not a well known figure outside of the folk circle, his inspiration lost to history.
Not only do the Coens understand the folk scene, they understand the influence of music in the lives of their characters. This is not a film about achieving fame, it’s about achieving enough money to survive, to play a little longer and to have a couple of drinks. Sure, some of that group made it bigger than others but many of them exist now only as an inspiration to true music fans and real musicians. The brothers understand this probably better than any other director of a music film ever could.
Oscar Isaac is perfectly cast, a lonesome-looking figure whose big eyes begin to tell us a story he is not telling us on screen. His talent is obvious, all of the songs from this film were recorded on set except for one. His omission from the Oscar nomination lists is possibly a bit harsh, he plays the wandering musician as if he was one himself. You always feel like you need to see more of Carey Mulligan’s character Jean, while her partner Jim, played by Timberlake, is almost just thrown into the mix, an “actor” with too much fame in the music industry as stands to be taken seriously.
Overall, Inside Llewyn Davis is just a really nice film, not too much in your face, beautifully shot with a slight tint of light blue across the screen. If you are a fan of folk, this is the film for you.
