When does a musician have to accept their career is over? Inside Llewyn Davis tackles this question head on by giving us a snapshot into the life of a battle hardened folk singer from Greenwich New York in the 1960’s. Llewyn Davis’s career is in freefall; fighting for a position only held by a select few, he fights with himself and those who love him as he struggles to carve himself a solo career.
An exquisite representation of the deeply melancholic music he represents, Llewyn Davis is a difficult character to understand. His own worst enemy and seemingly in a constant battle with himself over the direction of his career Llewyn is at times caring and giving and at others selfish and cruel. Animal lovers will despise him for what he does, but the conflict in his mind is obvious. This makes him a difficult character to rout for or to hate, which usually kills a film but in this case it is the source of its magic.
The title is the biggest indicator of what The Coen Bros. have given us. This is a glimpse inside the Llewyn Davis and nothing more. It is not his life story; it has no beginning and no end. The conflict in fact is what I think we are meant to see, conflict resides in Llewyn Davis and indeed throughout all the characters. Jim is conflicted about his friend who despises the songs he writes and is sadly naïve. Gene, Jim’s wife who slept with llewyn only to discover she is pregnant appears to both love our downtrodden hero and to hate him. In the same way Llewyn Davis is filled with bags of talent but struggles to connect with the audience. Inside Llewyn Davis as all about the unknown strewn together in a tale of disappointment and supported by a list of unique characters and flawless performances.
The soundtrack to this film is unbelievable for folk fans, and I believe for all fans of music. The magical way in with the Coen Bros. weaved beautiful songs into the story and combined them with the high class directing and the unique and innovative style we’ve come to expect from Coen Bros. films left my spine tingling and filled me with thousands of doubts and what ifs. Oscar Isaac is tremendous as llewyn Davis; Jon Goodman is spectacular as usual and Justin Timberlake who for me is growing as an actor gives a faultless performance as the spineless Jim.
Albeit an independent low budget film to its core, the list of A-list stars as well as the overwhelming brilliance of this film Inside llewyn Davis is a must see not only for folk fans but for fans of great cinema.
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