When I first saw this film in theaters, I outright hated it. I was hyped up by the soundtrack which featured Oscar Isaac (Ex Machina, Drive, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and Marcus Mumford (lead singer of Mumford and Sons), who is one my favorite musicians of all time. A few weeks ago, one of my friends told me to rewatch the film because it is better the second time. While I still did not love the film this time around, I gained more of an appreciation for it and was satisfied this time around. My main issue with the film is the storytelling method that the Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski, Fargo, True Grit) use. The story is linear and drags on and on without any real sense of purpose. We are thrown into the life of a musician who is trying to make a living with just his guitar. Unlike the other Coen brothers films that I have seen, there is no real flashiness to this one. It's just an image of a man living his life and trying to get by. With that in mind, this is creative storytelling. It is not extremely attractive to all viewers, but it is comprehensive.
The movie works like clockwork and without a flashy story, it often relies on its technical aspects. First off, I have to talk a bit about the music. Oscar Isaac's voice constantly takes us above the characters on screen in a serene manner. The period piece plays normally until the music starts to play and we drift into an odd reality separate from the physical world. Every time we feel landed in place, we are taken somewhere else. Solo songs such as "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" create a melancholic tone for the flick. They lift us up to an alternate space (possibly into Llewyn Davis's idea of himself), but also leave us grounded in the film. I know this is a weird review and analysis, but just bear with me on this one.
Another reason that I learned to respect this artistic film is the cinematography. There are some crazy good shots in this film, earning Bruno Delbonnel (Amelie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) an Oscar nomination. During one of the road trip scenes, there is a shot of the road that the car is driving down. The shot is defined clearly and even gave me a bit of nausea. The mise-en-scene is also appreciable with amazing settings ranging from a road blizzard to Greenwich Village. The lighting often glows with effervescence creating the 60s set. The film plays out like a spiritual 60s period piece that audiences will either love or hate.
The Bottom Line: The Coen brothers have proven versatility throughout their careers and Inside Llewyn Davis might be their most unique film to date.
Score: 7/10
Image credit: By Katrin Neuhaus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38735896
The movie works like clockwork and without a flashy story, it often relies on its technical aspects. First off, I have to talk a bit about the music. Oscar Isaac's voice constantly takes us above the characters on screen in a serene manner. The period piece plays normally until the music starts to play and we drift into an odd reality separate from the physical world. Every time we feel landed in place, we are taken somewhere else. Solo songs such as "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" create a melancholic tone for the flick. They lift us up to an alternate space (possibly into Llewyn Davis's idea of himself), but also leave us grounded in the film. I know this is a weird review and analysis, but just bear with me on this one.
Another reason that I learned to respect this artistic film is the cinematography. There are some crazy good shots in this film, earning Bruno Delbonnel (Amelie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince) an Oscar nomination. During one of the road trip scenes, there is a shot of the road that the car is driving down. The shot is defined clearly and even gave me a bit of nausea. The mise-en-scene is also appreciable with amazing settings ranging from a road blizzard to Greenwich Village. The lighting often glows with effervescence creating the 60s set. The film plays out like a spiritual 60s period piece that audiences will either love or hate.
The Bottom Line: The Coen brothers have proven versatility throughout their careers and Inside Llewyn Davis might be their most unique film to date.
Score: 7/10
Image credit: By Katrin Neuhaus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38735896
