Inside Llewyn Davis 2013

We all know a Llweyn Davis. We've all been Llweyn Davis. This is a film that, though absolutely more than stellar in other respects, lives and breathes on the characterization and performance of its lead. The story is immaculately crafted, chronicling a loop of tragic mediocrity. There's some beautiful camerawork, particularly during the final song that perfectly conveys Llweyn's woeful goodbye. Other cast members like the perfectly obnoxious Goodman, the scene stealing Driver, and especially Carey Mulligan as Jean in a performance that could carry its own movie, do a wonderful job. But without a thoughtful and well-sketched portrait of a character and the acting to fill it, the film would fall apart. Luckily, the film has those in spades.

Oscar Isaacs is enthralling. The long looks of ennui out the car window as the weight of toiling in the same circle settles in. The crack in his voice as he thanks his truest yet most vitriolic friend for trying to give him one more shot. The exhaustion, the grief, the bitterness towards others and himself. I've felt all of those things, and Isaacs reflected them back at me. He's charming and earnest enough to help you understand why people keep letting him in, and obnoxious and misanthropic enough to feel just as furious as they do. He'll snap and lash out and feel genuinely awful about it, he will own it. But he will not and cannot change; next week he'll do it all again. He'll always be back where he started. It's so easy to go inside Llewyn Davis because we've all been him, and I wouldn't mind going inside this film again.

Probably the most subtle Coen brothers script, even a lot of the humour is understated.
It’s a very effective portrait showing why true artists are likely to lead a life of suffering. The movie points at the industry as a reason of this ( the preference of commercial, watered down musical acts; luck and being in the right place at the right time both being a determining factor for achieving fame and success ), but it does not shy away from judging its main character as well ( his idealism and mess of a personal life lead to bad behavior and are part of the reason why he keeps living in the same metaphorical loop ). I think it’s nuanced and beautiful, it has great characters and acting. Moreover, the cinematography is incredibly atmospheric. You can feel the cold of this movie, it’s the perfect movie to watch when it’s snowing outside. The music’s also pretty nice, assuming that you have an appreciation for folk. Definitely among my favorite Coen brothers films, it knows how to be depressing without hammering you over the head with it.

9/10

Ps: I love that the Golden Globes nominated the song that’s meant be an example of corporate, soulless garbage for best song. That’s just perfect and very ironic in the context of the film.

"If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it's a folk song."
Llewyn says that twice in the whole film. once at the start and then towards the very end. Between these two occurrences, we have had a journey, or was that just one another day?

Inside Llewyn Davis is a polarising film by the Coen brothers. Their usual fanbase did not expect this. It goes away from their usual work. Inside Llewyn Davis is a story of a struggling folk singer. He is living in times that are probably lost, yet he is clinging to his passion. Does that bring him a lot of happiness? Hardly so. He is in love with the struggle itself.

Succinctly acted and brilliantly filmed, this left a lasting impression on me. Llewyn has the voice and the presence, but he is practising a craft that has fallen on the sidelines of culture and is slowly being forgotten. His puritanical love of the form is not enough. He does not wish to change with times. He had a partner, who committed suicide. He is not out of that shock. He has not processed it yet.

A lot of people have equated this to the depiction of depression and how Llewyn is unwittingly struggling to come out of the pit which is hard for him to even perceive. Oscar Isaac, who portrays Llewyn, won a well-deserving Gloden Globe for his portrayal of the trapped, tragic titular character. Carey Mulligan has a smaller role but she is at her vulnerable best. I just like her too much. (please go watch Drive)

The cinematography is by Bruno Delbonnel. He has worked before on Amelie, Darkest Hour and even a Harry Potter film. All praise to him for keeping these different movies different. I remember pausing the scenes filmed in The Gaslight Cafe (a real place which operated from 1958 to 1971, notable as a venue for folk music) for the beautiful frames Bruno captures. Tell me what you feel about the lingering smokey haze that almost always exists in all the frames. The passage of time through a long road journey or the passing train stations convey a lot more meaning than anything overtly said.

I have always loved The Eagles so the folk song genre was not new for me. For a movie about the folk singer, the movie takes its music very seriously. Oscar has performed many of the songs himself. Hang Me, Oh Hang Me, Fare Thee Well, and The Death of Queen Jane are especially memorable. As I am typing this, I am listening to the movie soundtrack on repeat. Especially all Oscar's songs embody that melancholy fighting spirit Llewyn holds dear and seldom lets go.

Apart from a personal story, it also talks about the need for patronage artists need in their career. All forms of arts or sports rely heavily on the audiences' backing and support. It also raises an important question regarding should artists go commercial in search of popularity and validation or stay true to their personal dedication towards the form and nature of their craft and refuse to budge even when all support is lost? There are no easy answers to this dilemma.

Inside Llewyn Davis is an experience. It is worth a watch for Oscar's acting, Bruno's cinematography and Dave Van Ronk's enchanting music. The Coen brothers have created a lovely piece of art that will stay relevant for long.

A somber, often morose walk through the self-imposed daily miseries of a struggling musician at the onset of the '60s folk revival. Strangely paced and often lingering, like many Coen brothers films, it's densely packed with backstory that, while only hinted, reverberates as though it had been fully explored.

Llewyn carries several weights with him; a disintegrating family, several failed relationships, a constant need to seek out empty couches for the night and a personal guilt for never quite cracking the big-time. He's a cold character, quick with angry outbursts and hurtful words, but we see a hidden warmth when he wraps his arms around a guitar and steps up to the mic. The film as a whole cherishes such musical interludes, shines them like a flashlight upon each character's innermost spirit: troubled, worried, silly, it's all out in the open on the stage, no matter how guarded the individual may be away from those bright lights.

The plot doesn't have a lot of direction - at the core, it's a relatively unspectacular week in the life of a nobody - and that can make it dull and plodding at times. It touches a lot of emotions, though, from laugh-out-loud funny to quietly desolate, and the quality of the music makes up for a lot of its shortcomings. A worthwhile journey, if not a spectacular one.

Ethan Coen and Joel Coen has to be two masterclass director's and writers in movie media, and I said that back in my older reviews of these two.

The story to Inside Llewyn Davis is about a trip through New York's folk music scene in the 1960s as a singer-songwriter does his best to make it through these times.

Every time the Coen brothers release a new movie I always expect something great from them as they other films never let me down and always top my exception. With Inside Llewyn Davis it's a road trip film with little comedy this and there, and once again the Coen brothers showed off how talent they truly are, because this movie is freaking fantastic.

I have to be honest here but I didn't know who Oscar Isaac was before watching this movie. I couple of times I heard someone brought up his name but that's it really, didn't know who he was so when I watched this movie my first thought when I saw his acting and singing was "I want to see him in more films", because this guy is just brilliant and I'm a bit disappointing of myself for not seeing his other films in the past. His character can come off a bit of a douche at times but he played the role so well and breath so much life into it that I actually liked him, all because of Oscar Isaac.

The directing and the writing by the Coen brothers and do I need say more, I'm running out of things to say about this two masters of filmmakers. The movie is was written really well and once again I'm can't find anything else to say of what I ready said before in my other past reviews. The songs in this movie are probably some of the best music I've heard in a while and it was really catcher as well.

I love the way this film looks, you know that bright, clean looking and gorgeous to look at cinematography that stands out. The cinematography in this movie is just utterly spectacular. every shot looks like it took forever to get the perfect shot and a lot of hard work went into this to get, but the people who did the cinematography in this movie pulled it off perfectly and no wonder they got a Oscar nomination for it.

My only problem with the film is that John Goodman character (Roland Turner). Now don't get me wrong, I like John Goodman has a actor and as a person, but I didn't feel like he fitted in the film, that might just be me but his character just kind of show up and then goes and never brought up again.

Overall rating: Inside Llewyn Davis is a fanatic drama piece with a lot of amazing things to experience in this film.