Did You Feel Sorry For Llewyn?

I wouldn't say I felt sorry for him, because pretty much all of his problems were of his own making, but I didn't hate him the way some people did. Some people just can't get out of their own way. My brother thoroughly disliked the movie itself for the simple reason that he didn't like Llewyn and couldn't get into a movie whose protagonist he didn't like, but I liked that our "hero" was an imperfect person (we all are, anyway).

As for Jean, I liked her less than I did Llewyn. Just a thoroughly unpleasant person who blamed him for a mutual mistake. She softened a bit toward the end, yes, but I didn't like the character at all.

The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.

He was portrayed as a person we should both like and dislike at the same time. That's what made him somewhat interesting. Kind of reminded me of my younger brother who really brings about much of his own misery, but is blessed with a lot of artistic talent, but in the end mostly just wastes it by being lazy and not listening to good advice from people that care about him.

Not at all. He is a guy doing what he wants to do and paying the price for doing so. In the face of desperation, he turns down opportunities that could pull him out of his rut.

But in that same sense, there was definitely something I related to and liked about the guy. For as strange as the movie gets, there is a certain reality to someone this frustrated and stubborn. He's obviously deeply invested in the bohemian lifestyle, but perhaps has been there too long and can't sustain himself. The temper and, at times, complacency seem a natural result of that disappointment. Still, there's an outlaw vibe in there someplace that is never less than interesting.

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Anyone who shows such concern for a cat deserves some respect and sympathy.

Reposting a comment I made in another thread, since it seems appropriate here.

I'm pretty sure that Llewyn's arc is tragic.

I'm just not sure WHY. What could Llewyn have done or not done? Why is he set upon on a course to obscure disappointment instead of fulfillment?

Maybe its the old idea of selling out or sticking to "truth". We see that Llewyn despises the idea of being "careerist" and thinks of himself as a very ground-centered artist. He is critical of "lesser" musical writing, does not perform at parties, and feels that his art alone should clear his path of woe. Meanwhile, we see that others who have made a decision to compromise have moved forward with their own lives, like Jim, Jean, and the young cadet.

Llewyn is definitely not lazy. He engages in the ultimate effort, after all, making the strange and grueling spirit journey to the Gate of Horn (through which we receive the truth of dreams) and there performs beautifully. But he also is told true things at that place...and still will not compromise. I think that was the real turning point. That's where he could not accept that the only path within the music business he could still take would be a path where he would have to move past the pain of his loss and share his future with others (taking on a new partner). I think he actually realizes the choice as he's making it, and he knows he is damned then. On the way home, he in fact sees that sometimes fate will sometimes hurl a screeching tragedy at you, leaving you to limp lamely on into the cold dark wood of the future...and that's just how things are.

...and so, on the morning following his beating, he'll take the meager basket money from the club performance, and get his licensing reissued. He'll ship out, blindly leaving the proverbial shore of heaven BEHIND him in doing so, never having met the man who will make Greenwich Village famous despite sharing a stage with him.

Llewyn, though a generally decent guy at heart, could certainly be a bit dickish sometimes (like with his sister), but the scene when he sings "The Death of Queen Jane" is one of the saddest, most heartbreaking scenes in the history of cinema - and all shot in 1 take, I believe.

I was torn between feeling sorry for Llewyn and rolling my eyes at his poor judgment. Then I was thinking, how long ago did his friend die? Was all of his poor judgment and sarcasm stemming from that one situation?

It strikes me that the duo were going somewhere with their music but once his friend (I honestly can't remember his name right now) killed himself he took Llewyn's chance with him.