794 Inside Llewyn Davis

[ianungstad]

Inside Llewyn Davis



The visionary chroniclers of eccentric Americana Joel and Ethan Coen present one of their greatest creations in Llewyn Davis, a singer barely eking out a living on the peripheries of the flourishing Greenwich Village folk scene of the early sixties. As embodied by Oscar Isaac, in a revelatory performance, Llewyn (loosely modeled on off-the-radar folk legend Dave Van Ronk) is extraordinarily talented but also irascible, rude, and self-defeating. Our man's circular odyssey through an unforgiving wintry cityscape, evocatively captured by cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, is realized with poignant humor and the occasional surreal touch. Featuring a folk soundtrack curated by T Bone Burnett, Inside Llewyn Davis reminds us that in the Coens' world, history isn't necessarily written by the winners.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED EDITION:

• New 4K digital transfer, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• New audio commentary featuring writers Robert Christgau, David Hajdu, and Sean Wilentz
• The First Hundred Feet, the Last Hundred Feet, a new conversation between filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and directors Joel and Ethan Coen about the evolution of their approach, from Blood Simple to Inside Llewyn Davis
• Inside "Inside Llewyn Davis," a forty-five-minute 2013 documentary
• Another Place, Another Time (2014), a 101-minute film documenting an Inside Llewyn Davis tribute concert, featuring Joan Baez, Mumford & Sons, Punch Brothers, Gillian Welch, Jack White, and others
• New piece on the history of "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)," featuring music producer T Bone Burnett and the Coens
• New piece about Dave Van Ronk and the Greenwich Village folk scene of the early sixties, featuring music writer and historian Elijah Wald
• Sunday, a short 1961 documentary by Dan Drasin about the riots that took place in Washington Square Park after folk musicians were prevented from gathering and playing there
• Trailers
• PLUS: An essay by film critic Kent Jones

[Brian C]

Teaser trailer for Inside Llewyn Davis.

Good: Soundtrack is great.
Bad: Not impressed with Mulligan's acting. Maybe it works much better in the actual movie. The bit about the condoms made me cringe.

So what's the deal with this thing? I don't think it has US distribution yet, so what's the plan? I had assumed it was heading for a premiere at Cannes but this trailer arriving now puts that into doubt.

Interesting that this is only the second Coen film not to be shot by Roger Deakins since their first collaboration on Barton Fink (Burn After Reading was the other). Bruno Delbonnel steps in this time.

I think Mulligan seems fine, by the way, although I generally feel that she can do no wrong.

[flyonthewall2983]

It's nice to see her bitchy in something.

[ianungstad]

So what's the deal with this thing? I don't think it has US distribution yet

While no US distribution has been officially announced, the trailer was released as part of an invite to critics to screen the film on Feb.9th on the Sony Lot. I would assume if it's being screened at Sony they probably have the rights and it will go out through Sony Pictures Classics. It would seem odd for them to screen the film at the Sony lot if Sony didn't have the rights.

[James]

I'm getting pretty tired of seeing Carey Mulligan even though she's not that bad. Goodman looks damn terrific in this one though, and I'm really hoping it's on par with No Country for Old Men at least.

[matrixschmatrix]

I liked what I saw of Mulligan. Interesting to reteam her with Oscar Davis, as the only other thing I've seen him in is Drive.

[mfunk9786]

Oscar Isaac, you mean?

[matrixschmatrix]

Haha it's early and my brain isn't on yet, yeah I meant Oscar Davis

edit: aaah what the hell is wrong with me. Oscar Isaac.

[Jeff]

While no US distribution has been officially announced, the trailer was released as part of an invite to critics to screen the film on Feb.9th on the Sony Lot. I would assume if it's being screened at Sony they probably have the rights and it will go out through Sony Pictures Classics. It would seem odd for them to screen the film at the Sony lot if Sony didn't have the rights.

I don't think it's particularly unusual for studios rent out their private screening facilities to third parties (StudioCanal in this case). It may well end up with Sony Pictures Classics, but I wouldn't necessarily say that this is a sign of it. There's a good piece about the film in today's New York Times.

[flyonthewall2983]

CBS Films is the distributor.

[Jeff]

Limited release December 6, wide December 20.

[Jeff]

Critics at Cannes are over the moon for this.

Todd McCarthy at The Hollywood Reporter:

Closer to some of the Coens’ smaller films such as Barton Fink and A  Serious Man than to breakouts including O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country for Old Men, the French-financed CBS Films pickup nonetheless is a singular work by the protean filmmaking team...as stunning and singular as anything in the Coens’ canon

Scott Foundas, Variety:

"Inside Llewyn Davis" [is] a boldly original, highly emotional journey through Greenwich Village nightclubs, a bleak New York winter, and one man’s fraught efforts to reconcile his life and his art. A product of the same deeply personal end of the Coens’ filmmaking spectrum previously responsible for the likes of “Barton Fink” and “A Serious Man,” this darkly comic musical drama with an elliptical narrative and often brusque protagonist won’t corral the same mass audience as “No Country for Old Men” and “True Grit.” But strong reviews — for the pic itself and its stupendous soundtrack — should make this December release an awards-season success for distrib CBS Films.

[JabbaTheSlut]

Sounds like another soulless Coen bros movie.

[hearthesilence]

[Jeff]

Sounds like another soulless Coen bros movie.

The consensus seems to be the opposite.

Perhaps most surprising to some viewers will be the pic’s surfeit of something the Coens have sometimes been accused of lacking: deep, heartfelt sincerity.

Still, if after 30 years and 15 films you haven't found anything to like from the Coens, I doubt you'd start now.

[JabbaTheSlut]

There's a nice review here. I liked Raising Arizona and Fargo. But they fucked up the Cormac McCarthy adaptation and for that I will NEVER forgive them.

[Finch]

A rave from Peter Bradshaw for Inside Llewellyn Davis

[captveg]

Llewyn Davis is a hurt man. He is this way through a combination of unfortunate luck, career choices made on stubborn principle and immediate need, and seemingly the cruelty of fate. The regretful truth, however, is that he chooses to be a hurt man, and on occasion attempts to unwisely find relief from this burden by pouring his disdain and sorrow onto others. That he is also able to channel this hurt into revelatory music is a miraculous curse. That the Coen brothers have created a film and a character so rich with pained humor, longing tragedy, and at times deserved rejection is one of the finest joys of cinema this year. 10/10

[rohming]

I'm sorta interested in seeing this if only to reconcile the positive reactions from those who have seen it with my reaction to the trailer, which left me utterly non-plussed.

[hearthesilence]

FWIW, Jim Hoberman (who's never been a fan of the Coen brothers) has a review over at Tablet Magazine. Very critical, but I know he really liked the lead performance, which probably saved the film for him.

[Luke M]

I loved it. It was a bit dark but littered with funny set-ups and one liners. It's very rich, not soulless in any way, it's just a bit melancholy. Definitely one of the better Coen brothers films as of late, easily their best since No Country. A Serious Man and True Grit were terrific but wholly forgettable. Inside Llewyn Davis will stick around with you for awhile.

[Ugarte]

I find the critical attention given this film interesting. After seeing it at the Lincoln Center Film fest I felt it was one of the most airless, lightweight films the Coens have ever done. I didn't hate it...but I certainly didn't love it. Somewhat disappointed, actually. The laughs seem easy, aimed at the soft targets of the early 60s folk music scene, built around a forlorn loser who never garners sympathy or anger. A rather inert anodyne film, comfortable in its small knowing look at a minor musician who will never get a ride on the big bus to stardom, peppered with stereotypical, but well cast, portrayals of musicians, record labels and club owners. Pale in comparison to the successes of No Country..., A Serious Man and the wonderful True Grit, which did justice to Portis' great and loopy novel. But I certainly look forward to giving it another viewing.

[LQ]

Watching a largely unlikable musician living what amounts to the same broke, grey, cold couple of days over and over doesn't seem like it would make for the most enjoyable experience, but I found the film deeply engaging. The exploration of the resentment, disappointment and loneliness of trying to eke out a living as an artist among other artists when you have clear talent but not genius was so powerful that it actually made me a little grateful that I'm not artistically gifted in some way, and driven to make that gift my livelihood. It looks existentially exhausting. That's why I love the experience of movies like this and am so glad I saw it even if it left me in a melancholy funk - I'm never going to be a struggling musician, but by identifying with Oscar Isaac's exceptional performance I felt that gnawing existence, to be lifted out of it only in the moments when Llewyn is performing and is himself, however briefly, lifted out of it enough to continue trudging on.

[mfunk9786]

For me, the key moment comes in Chicago, when Llewyn is asked to play something from inside him. Well, of course, it's the name of his album, but the double meaning is there - and of course, he proceeds to play a downright lovely, sparse, and tragic traditional folk song, that simultaneously reveals why the album hasn't sold and that Llewyn has been running around scrapping so much since the major event that quietly drives the movie that he hasn't yet found what's inside him, if there's anything left there at all. It's not his song, and it's obtuse enough in its lyrical staging that it's hard to tell at first blush if Llewyn even realizes how important it is to him. Or then again, perhaps that's exactly why he plays it, why it's on his album in the first place. It's not all that easy, in a film titled such, to determine exactly what's Inside Llewyn Davis.

"Oh no," cried King Henry
"That's a thing that I'll never do
If I lose the flower of England
I shall lose the branch too
I shall lose the branch too

Has Llewyn lost the branch? I don't think he even knows at this point. I don't know if he's considered whether or not there's something missing, and if there is, whether he'll ever be able to get it back. His steadfast devotion to traditional folk songs aside, this is a perhaps intentional error on Llewyn's part that seals his fate shut. The remainder of the movie is a classic Coen protagonist karma-beating (as if the first half was peaches and cream) to the point that when we see Llewyn come out on the other end bruised in all senses of the word, we wonder if he's headed for the same fate as his old partner, or if there's some rehabilitation-style "rock bottom" that's been reached, from which he'll find the divine inspiration he sorely needs. Based upon who we see come up to sing after him at the Gaslight, singing a rather similar song to the one Llewyn closed his set with, [with a radically exciting new delivery], one has to assume the worst for our hero.

[colinr0380]

LQ/mfunk, have you seen Meanwhile? It sounds from your descriptions of this film as if you might like that one too!