MovieChat Forums > Inside Llewyn Davis (2014) Discussion > Maybe I like this Coen the most because....

Maybe I like this Coen the most because..

posted 9 years ago by Zippo_123
3 replies | jump to latest

it has the most fully realized human being in it. I think in a way, the Coen's always make farces. Fargo is crime-farce, Big Lebowski (which i also love) is a detective farce, Burn after Reading a spy-farce, Lady killers obviously a farce.

Even no country for old men, with all it's bleak violence and seriousness, has farcical elements in the plot, with all the running around with the money that doesn't go anywhere, the totally random car crash, the super-villain bordering on sillyness.

Now farces are great, but the thing is that the characters is farces tend to stay carictures. They're sharply drawn, 'smaller than life' kind of people. Cartoonish, fun to look at and laugh at, hard to identify with.

I think Llewyn Davis transcends this usually farcical shaping of Coen-characters. Though there are some typical farcical elements in Llewyn's 'journey that ultimately doesn't go anywhere', I could fully identify with him on a personal level. This may be the Coen's movie that moves away from farce and towards drama the most. Add the beautiful music and typically well executed cinematography, the usual Coen-brilliance in the details and the humour and I say this movie is freaking great.

[–] kmags84 9 years ago

It's not so much farce as it is Meta-fiction. They have a plot, it SEEMS straightforward enough but ends up taking a turn to the unexpected and does so with an almost "Self Awareness" so to say. ILD had this as well. The entire trip to Chicago was definitely typical Coen Bros, in a good way of course. I think alot of their work has normal, relatable characters... They just put them in incredible situations

[–] Zippo_123 9 years ago

I think alot of their work has normal, relatable characters...

Really? I love O bother were are thou for example, but Everett, Pete and Delmar are basically like three stooges. Clooney does his Clark Gable shtick. Love the music, love the look of it, love the shenanigans and slapstick. But don't really connect with Everett or Pete like with Llewyn Davis. It's like flat characters and a round one. Same with for example Jerry from Fargo or the Dude. They're funny as hell, but stay cartoonish to me.

[–] kmags84 9 years ago

Alot of their films, not ALL. They've made a ton of films so no need to address too many but Llewellyn Moss is a REAL Character IMO, so is Carla Jean. I mean, other than Anton, it's basically regular folks caught up in extraordinary circumstances. The Dude!! He's as real as they come. I know Ex-Hippies that are very much like him. Again, he's thrown in the midst of chaos and that's why it's such a great film. Plenty of their work is like this. Sure, they have a penchant for Film Noir and like to draw up from those types of characters but I don't think they're immune to normal people. I think they're at the Heart of most of their work.