A look at the indie folk scene of 60’s New York might sound a bit on the dull side, but considering that the Coen brothers have signed this particular film and that it won the Grand Prix at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, we’ve decided that ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ is where we want to be.
By Cristiana Moisescu
Set in the Greenwich Village folk music scene of the 60s, the Coen brothers’ new movie, “Inside Llewyn Davis”, takes a look at the life of folk singer Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) and his attempts to go from being on-the-brink to getting a big break. Davis’ life takes the rhythm of days blindly following each other as he struggles to make it in an industry known for its ruthlessness, and while he has the talent, the folk scene is getting more crowded by the day. The uncertainties of the future bring a strain to his relationships as well, which are fraught with fights and constant dissatisfaction – the only constancy he shows is towards an orange cat he happens to get stuck with, arguably the most colourful character of the movie.
His relationship with Jean, another folk singer (played by a wonderful, lively, foul-mouthed Carey Mulligan such as we haven’t seen before) is the only dynamic part of a movie that is otherwise poignantly still, punctuated by a succession of bleak road trips, psychedelic-like moments and a restlessness for a successful future which never does materialize. In between all the mess that is his life, there’s the music, the haunting Mississippi-like blues, opening and closing the film like a soundtrack of pain. The music also has a redemptive quality here, saving Llewyn from himself and bringing raw emotion onto the screen; when not singing, he appears almost absent from his own life, taking each hit with comedic ambivalence, oscillating between drunken fights with everyone around him, or walking away from everything and entertaining the thought of a career at sea on a merchant ship.
With long-cut scenes and a palette that covers all the greys in existence, the movie plays the bleakness of the landscape against a host of humorous moments which serve as ironic, painful reminders of life’s absurdity. In Llewyn’s world, a lifetime of ironies come together to deliver the biggest one of all – the moment any musician is hoping for, the big audition, takes place twice and is unsuccessful both times, like a repeat of the same grainy, broken record. Still, Llewyn’s life is also a making of his own, and not simply the result of sheer bad luck. His misplaced anger puts him into tricky situations, his arrogance has a way of keeping him there and while his music is great, it’s not enough.
“Inside Llewyn Davis” assumes a peek inside the main character’s mind, but continuing the irony, keeps us out of the loop. We know this is a guy who does nothing to be likeable to anyone around him, and he gets our attention through his no-nonsense, harried attitude, but we never get through to him. This comes across well in Oscar Isaac’s acting, as his outbursts of anger give way to an interior stillness, beautifully captured on screen by the Coen brothers. While the movie is loosely based on the life of folk singer Dave Van Ronk, it distinctly manages to make it all about Llewyn Davis. It is a sad, melancholy affair, but an entertaining one.
“Inside Llewyn Davis” plays at the Ritzy Picturehouse, Brixton, until February 27.