794 Inside Llewyn Davis

[Red Screamer]

We only see him for a week,

*Three years
Look at the earlier discussion in this thread

[captveg]

It's also a self-fulfilling prophecy. He puts Jim and Jean down for being "careerist," aka wanting to actually succeed and make money with their musical talent. So he's getting exactly what he's bargained for, but he also can't support himself or relax because of it, and it's pretty obvious that behind that facade he's waiting for someone to stumble onto his incredible talent rather than having to put himself out there the way Jim does by, say, writing "Please, Mr. Kennedy."

Yeah, his ultra high pride in sticking to it for a pure music experience causes him to make dumb career/financial decisions constantly. I mean, what would be the harm in taking the paying gig in Chicago he's offered? Yeah, the people at the club would not hear his music, at least not immediately. But he'd have a reliable income and time in the day to work on his art and possibly promote it on the side, and maybe it eventually finds an audience. He doesn't accept that, for example, many a fine actor did lame work and busted tables while they tried to break out. That path is beneath him because of foolish ego and pride. Its why I laughed with such pain when he does seem to find some audience at the end of the film, only to be quickly forgotten because of the performer who follows him.

[mfunk9786]

We only see him for a week,

*Three years
Look at the earlier discussion in this thread

That's far from confirmed, it's just a theory.

[Murdoch]

Spoiler

My biggest problem with the trip as some 3 year odyssey is that Jean is still pregnant when Llewyn returns. Unless I misunderstood and its advocates are saying the three year jump happens after the trip, which might be more plausible.

[swo17]

Spoiler

I don't read it as a literal three-year jump, but the Coens are definitely playing here with concepts of time. I like to think of it as Llewyn basically living this one week over and over on a continuous loop even as the world moves forward in regular time.

[Roger Ryan]

Spoiler

The flexibility of time can still work with Dylan chronology since he continued to play the Gaslight sporadically until 1965. Reportedly, Dylan wrote the song "Farewell" (the song the fictional Dylan performs in the film) in January, 1963 and possibly recorded the track at the Gaslight in February of that year. For the purposes of a fictional film with some allegiance to historical accuracy, Dylan performing the song at the Gaslight in November, 1963 (when the film THE INCREDIBLE JOURNEY was in theaters) is not much of a stretch.

I think this odd Möbius strip idea might be alluded to in the Coens' script by Davis' on-stage patter: "If it was never new, and it never gets old...", then it's always been there, never changing, right?

Of course, this wouldn't be the first time the Coens have played around with anachronisms...

Spoiler

In A SERIOUS MAN, both the Santana and Creedence Clearwater Revival albums the Columbia Record Club representative is telling Gopnik he'll receive shortly weren't even recorded until approximately two years after the events in the film take place. Since the other cultural references line up properly with the time frame of 1967, I suspect the Coens intend us to recognize the record club rep. as some kind of seer who is predicting the future.

[Red Screamer]

Spoiler

I didn't mean that the film happened over the course of a literal three years, but that whatever amount of time we did in fact spend with Llewyn also suggested what his future would be like and there wasn't much hope there.

[MoonlitKnight]

Ultimately, Llewyn reminded me a fair amount of my cousin, who's an aspiring actor. He's definitely talented, but not what you'd call a 'people person;' he has a hard time relating to those who are not remotely creative/artistic. He's grown frustrated with having to work shitty jobs to support himself. He's resentful of the people running the shows in any given entertainment industry, perceiving that most of them have never had any artistic talent themselves. And he also refuses to, as he puts it, 'whore out his talents' by doing commercials or print ads, which seems to be one of the easier methods of an actor making money. But he won't give up since he has no real Plan B for a career. So I could somewhat identify with Llewyn's plight; for someone who can do something, but then not be able to do it, so to speak... even if, to an extent, he's also his own worst enemy. I wish my cousin the best, but, at the same time, it's just a shame the artist's career has taken shape into a completely different beast than most other, more conventional careers. :-k

[domino harvey]

In a true New Years morning surprise, this has just been teased in the yearly Wacky Drawing for a Criterion release

[The Narrator Returns]

I don't see a lot of money there.

[hearthesilence]

I don't see a lot of money there.

You may be right about that. The current Blu-Ray has been going for $9.99 for a pretty long time now, and it wasn't exactly a subpar disc.

[domino harvey]

I was just thinking the other day about the inexplicable instant cult cachet around this film, but that only means there will be an eager audience ready to snatch this up, and I'm glad for its fans. Like most Coen movies, though, I just don't "get it"

[The Narrator Returns]

Just watch, it's going to get released in the same month as every other Michael Mann movie.

[hearthesilence]

Like most Coen movies, though, I just don't "get it"

I think I'm in the same boat. I gave it a honest try, but I came away from the first viewing with mixed feelings. Gave it another try, but I don't see the masterpiece people are talking about. Even if I can give the film a pass for some egregious missteps with the music and the culture, it feels like one of their lesser, snottier works.

[swo17]

I was just thinking the other day about the inexplicable instant cult cachet around this film...I just don't "get it"

By "instant cult cachet around this film," do you mean people spelling the character's first name correctly?

[rwiggum]

I couldn't be more thrilled. It's certainly not a Coen film for everyone, but it may be among my favorite of their films.

[krnash]

Justin Timberlake joins the collection.

Count me as one of the big fans of this film. I'll be happy to see Criterion put the fine touching to its thick, boozy cinematography and its incredibly rich soundtrack. And here's hoping they can get the brothers to talk.

[Jeff]

here's hoping they can get the brothers to talk.

I imagine getting them to sit for both interviews at once is what has held up Barton Fink for so long.

[Ashirg]

I was wondering why Another Day, Another Time: Celebrating the Music of 'Inside Llewyn Davis' was not released in US. Now we know why...

[flyonthewall2983]

The EPK on the current disc was quite lengthy, and not a typical puff piece, so it's likely we'll at least get that with it or maybe an extended version.

[ianungstad]

I imagine that they'll include the concert film on here too.

[flyonthewall2983]

The real twist for me here is that CBS Films, the American distributor has just announced that Lionsgate will be handling their home video distribution. Does this mean we'll see more cooperation between that company and Criterion now?

[ianungstad]

The Coens probably asked CBS to let Criterion have it; or Becker put in a request during the limbo between the end of CBS's pact with Sony and the new agreement with Lionsgate. Probably just a one-off.

[ianungstad]

For those who don't have the soundtrack; Oscar Isaac's rendition of The Death of Queen Jane is far better than what appears in the movie. One of my favorite tracks of the last year actually. While I think the concert film will be included here; I really wish that Criterion will be able to license Oh Brother; Where Art Thou? at some point packaged with Down from the Mountain.

[mfunk9786]

This news is not only welcome but it's completely surreal. This is my favorite film of the decade so far and very high on my all-time list and if this gets it into more people's hands, I'm thrilled.

And the soundtrack is fabulous. CD bonus disc???