Directors: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen.
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Justin Timberlake, Adam Driver, Ethan Phillips, Robin Bartlett, Max Casella, Jerry Grayson.
Running Time: 104 minutes.
Certificate: 15.
Special Features: Inside, Inside Llewyn Davis (Making Of)
It’s perhaps an understatement to say that the Coen Brothers are two of the most fascinating filmmakers still plying their trade at the highest level. They’re effectively traipsing through alternative genres and constantly managing to come up with something unique and creative every time. Do they hit the heights of their own inadvertent hype with INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS? Absolutely.
The film explores a very specific focus: the folk music scene in 1961. Whether you’re a music aficionado or just appreciate striking storytelling (or both), the film captures a slice of life from the era that launched the likes of Bob Dylan. We join Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) over a year, moving from couch to couch and trying to get his solo music career out of his Greenwich Village bar, ‘The Gaslight’. Once part of a double act that found relative success, there are some that already know his sound. Putting all this aside, you quickly sense his struggle. After he gets a beating from an unhappy stranger, we are immediately reminded that he’s the Coen’s archetypal anti-hero, appearing to love the fight but without any control.
It’s important to state that Oscar Isaac is centre stage here, encapsulating a man with exquisite talent, entwined in a fight and a desperation to change his world. At the start he has to look after a ginger cat after locking himself out of a place he’s been crashing in. A moment where you think he’s taking control, he ends up dumping the cat with folk friends Jean and Jim (Justin Timberlake). Carey Mulligan’s Jean is seemingly a minor focus for our Llewyn, and when it comes down to it, she’s just another voice that says ‘yes’ to him when he needs somewhere to be. The previously mentioned cat is a subtext that also creates a perfect metaphor for his life, a reflection of his own muddled existence and there’s an intriguing spark when he realises the name of the cat later on.
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is an achingly beautiful, folk music-loving movie that’s wonderfully accomplished. Utilising the musical talents of T Bone Burnett, it also bridges the gap between the genius of that musical era and the modern age. If you’re quixotic at heart, or recognise the desire beneath a song then you’ll be in a perfect place to enjoy the exploration of another Coen Brothers classic.
[usr=5] INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS is out now on Blu-ray and DVD. You can purchase it here: Inside Llewyn Davis [Blu-ray] [2014]
