Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Talent: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Justin Timberlake
Release Date: 24th January 2014
The Coen brothers’ latest is set in 1961, at the tail end of the Greenwich Village folk scene, following the titular Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac), a talented but struggling musician whose erstwhile partner has just thrown himself from the George Washington Bridge. Meanwhile, Llewyn must raise the money to provide for the abortion of an embryo which may or may not be his, and chase down his friends’ cat, which he has lost.
The film is unusual in the Coens’ oeuvre in that it features uninterrupted, live performances of almost each of its songs. In this aspect, Inside Llewyn Davis is entirely successful, managing to affect humour, sadness, kitsch and bitterness in its various impressive arrangements. And while it has been termed a tonal sequel to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, one never gets the sense that Llewyn will miraculously overcome adversity in the same way as its protagonists do.
In terms of the spectacular, often hilarious cruelty with which the Coens treat their lead, Inside Llewyn Davis has much more in common with A Serious Man or Barton Fink. No act of sincerity goes unpunished, no opportunity unconspired against by circumstance. While on the face of things, this might seem to be a paean to a now distant moment in America’s musical and cultural history, it is also a minor, personal tragedy, a comedy about the small miseries of everyday life. The comparisons with folk music write themselves, as well they should.
The Coens’ ability to oscillate effortlessly between hilarity and desolation is nothing short of profound. It is a style they have been working in for years, and with Inside Llewyn Davis, we are witnessing two of America’s greatest directors at the top of their game.
Words: Oisín Murphy-Hall
