MovieChat Forums > Inside Llewyn Davis (2014) Discussion > 'Amadeus', Bull Durham' and 'ILD'

'Amadeus', Bull Durham' and 'ILD'

posted 11 years ago by dijomaja-382-516639
4 replies | jump to latest

Proposed sequel (Coen Bros., I can be bought):

I read Dave Van Ronk's memoir and something occurred to me (and, yes, I know that LD is only a little bit VR, a little bit Sisyphus and maybe a Coen brother or two).

Like Salieri in 'Amadeus' and "Crash" Davis in 'Bull Durham' ("Davis"? Coincidence? Probably), Van Ronk was the established craftsman confronted and superseded by out-of-left-field genius (Mozart, "Nuke" Laloosh, Dylan). Llewyn (the character) is not the eminence grise that the others were but there's still a sense of the inescapable difference between talent and genius.

[–] laughtermadefat 10 years ago

That's quite interesting.

It's not my interpretation, but I like it all the same.

[–] manco82 10 years ago

Funnily F. Murray Abraham is in this film as a club owner!

[–] robhiphop 10 years ago

It did really strike me that F. Murray Abraham - most famous for playing Salieri in Amadeus - made an appearance in this movie.

Knowing the Coen Brothers, this bit of meta-casting can't be put purely down to coincidence. The similarities between Salieri and Llewyn Davis are inescapable. Salieri is a modestly talented but ultimately unimportant musical craftsman, thoroughly trumped in historical significance by Mozart. Llewyn Davis is a modestly talented but ultimately unimportant musical craftsman, thoroughly trumped in historical significance by Bob Dylan.

Also note that in Amadeus, Salieri has the power to grant or withhold musical appointments and therefore holds Mozart's livelihood in his hands. In Inside Llewyn Davis, Bud Grossman has the power to book gigs and get radio play and therefore holds Llweyn's livelihood in his hands. Both Salieri and Bud Grossman are played by... F. Murray Abraham.

[–] hnewstadt 10 years ago

I like this thread very much. Another parallel is that Llewyn's audition for Grossman was The Death of Queen Jane, Mozart's final work was the Requiem Mass in D Minor. Furthermore, Dylan Queen Jane Approximately may owe both a titular and structural debt to Van Ronk's version of the 400 year old ballad. Finally, Queen Jane Approximately appears on Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and Highway 61 was also known as the Blues Highway from New Orleans to Chicago, a road with which Llewyn's fellow travelers would have been quite familiar,