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Rating:
Human nature is wonderful, faceted into billions of shades that ultimately distinguish and characterize a man and his life.
The Coen brothers know their craft, and as in their other films, they have no problem creating a sociological fresco by depicting what Mississippi was like during the Great Depression.
The film is a continuous parallel with Homer's adventures in the Odyssey, not surprisingly the protagonist, a very talented and convincing "Clooney," is named Ulysses Everett McGill; the Aegean Sea suddenly transforms into the endless sun-scorched wheat fields where solitary small islands of humanity stand out, and let’s be clear, by humanity we mean well beyond its positive connotation but from a purely classificatory point of view.
The story is quickly told, three convicts find a way to escape a life of hard labor, perhaps a metaphor for those who somehow manage to break the chains of their destiny and embark on a journey that immediately seems dangerous and difficult, both because human freedom is fraught with unforeseen events and ambiguities, and because it doesn't take long for our protagonists to be immediately hunted by a squad of officers led by a cold sheriff, a symbol of destiny itself, namely that of being crushed, chewed up, and subjugated.
The path of man, as already mentioned, is fraught with obstacles, and they come in all shapes and sizes; indeed, our protagonists will have to navigate seductive sirens, swindling cyclopes, treacherous relatives, petty politicians, and bandits who think they are gods. In short, an endless potpourri of situations that expose the three to a journey, a kind of synthesis of human life made of contradictions and doubts, and at the same time a journey symptomatic of a constant becoming.
The film progresses and willingly drags the viewer along from a purely narrative perspective, with multiple references and allusions to Homer's work; all seasoned with humorously surreal situations in the Coen style while the film is constantly accompanied by country music, blues, and ballads typical of the American South.
A particular figure in the film is quite striking, namely the bandit George Nelson, a daring bank robber constantly caught up in the euphoria of being and the happiness that his profession and way of life provide, even though shortly after he falls into a disconcerting depression as if everything he does loses its value, somewhat an exemplification of life and feelings, namely a constant seesaw of emotions that sometimes give meaning to life and what we do and other times strip our actions of meaning.
A very enjoyable film that despite its content rich in meaning never exceeds in moralism and heaviness, a must-see!
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