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And here it is, the long-awaited latest work by the Coen brothers. Expectations spoke of a journey through the newborn folk-revival scene of New York's Greenwich Village, and I wondered what could be so captivating about a film featuring somewhat dull songs. Instead, the film centers indeed on the figure of a folk singer, Llewyn Davis (played by Oscar Isaac), but it results in a portrait of a splendid and gritty loser, as is traditional for the Coen brothers. And, still drawing from this "sacred" tradition, it tells of a journey, a path that leads Davis to nothing if not to confront his own miseries.
Even the oft-cited inspiration with singer Dave Van Ronk, the duo Jim and Jean, or the nod to the beginnings of Peter, Paul & Mary demonstrate that the aim is not so much a semi-documentary homage to that scene, but rather the adventures of Davis, his stubborn choice to pursue his songs rejected by producer Bud Grossman who will deem them commercially unsuccessful in a futile and eventful trip to Chicago; his refusal to compromise with easy artistic solutions and life responsibilities, an uptight sister and an ill father, amidst alleged paternities and few friends who host him on their couches. The journey, the guilt, Jewish references that return in their films mixed with their perennial passions (the music superbly curated once again by T Bone Burnett).
It won't be the tragicomic and captivating carousel of "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" with which the film pairs for the Coen's passion for tradition, but the result remains high, albeit in a rigorous wintry New York chiaroscuro, enveloping like a cozy plaid, perhaps with a cat named Ulysses by our side in a dimly lit dive like the Gaslight Café.
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Other reviews
By BananaCrusher
The film is a continuous parallel with Homer’s adventures in the Odyssey.
A very enjoyable film that despite its content rich in meaning never exceeds in moralism and heaviness, a must-see!
By stargazer
More than the Homeric references, the film presents a bitter description of the Depression-era South still rife with prejudices and opportunistic politics.
Music becomes the true protagonist, making the film feel at times like a musical, with a soundtrack that won 3 Grammy Awards.
By JpLoyRow2
"Inside Llewyn Davis" is, in my opinion, one of the Coen brothers' best works.
Davis is a ghost wandering unconsciously through the streets of a Kennedy-era America whose 'Big Dream' seems lost in the Chicago snow or in the identical houses of New York.
