Inside Llewyn Davis- A Musical Milestone

Ah, America….

America, that nation for everyone and no one. America, dubbed the New World and the word ‘New’ magically attached to its states, districts and suburbs. America captured in different shades by the best of its directors- the small-town idyllic existence in Altman’s comedies and Spielberg’s UFO classics, the dark and psychedelic mean streets of Martin Scorsese, the buzzing, broad romantic rendezvous in Woody Allen’s twisted rom-coms and more. And for the Coen Brothers’ latest film, a finely crafted, deeply melancholic and mesmerizing story of folk rock in 60’s New York, America, with its alternately whimsical and grimy shades, comes alive in full glory, set to the scratchy acoustic tunes of a man’s guitar.

That man- named Llewyn Davis- is the heart and soul of this amazing film- an existential plot revolving around this straggle-bearded man as he scavenges for fame and fortune in a world which, as it seems to him, is manifestly unfair.

And woven around its deceptively simple premise is a stellar soundtrack of both improvised and established folk classics- classics exceptionally used by Coen Brothers and gifted cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel to smashing effect as they tug us into an innocent era, with just the lightest touch of political turbulence- a rousing studio song harkens at Mr. Kennedy and yet the tone is vibrant, wonderfully whimsical.

However, this is mainly the story of Davis. A struggling musician who jumps from couch to couch, Davis is hardly what can be called a hero. He is cynical, dry-witted to begin with and he has also messed up his life- the way his pregnant, one time lover Jean (a superb Carey Mulligan) puts it- ‘everything he touches turns to shit’. Indeed, we can see it in his lost prospects, in his desperate attempts to make it big and yet deal with life’s little and major problems.

The Coens, taking the story a full circle, beginning and ending with Davis getting beaten up in a dark alley, explore the American 60’s deluge through Davis’s extremely melancholic wandering. This is a New York we have rarely seen- its subways and streets clogged with snow- the disappointment for Davis lies in the air itself. And yet, the film wills us not to love this man. Davis’s failing is more of his social inadequacy rather than his musical gifts- he is a man who is not really worthy of redemption and yet the loneliness and alienation which shrouds him is shattering.

Because the Coens, who have also written the immaculately intelligent and snappy script, know how to make our feelings turn. The moment Davis plucks a tune in his guitar, we feel alive; suddenly, the lights come on and even the snowbound, sad New York streets come to life and vigor. ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ is a triumph of emotion because the Coens know exactly how to use their craft exceptionally- the desolation of Davis’ soul shows in the film’s starched, saturated images set to the profoundly moving score while the bouncy, flexible narrative just packs in the right amount of whimsy, doomed romance and hope to make this more than just a solid character study.

A good time of the film goes on gazing at the brooding Davis- a character who rarely smiles and justifiably so. There is little to smile in this oddly pessimistic story, enlivened at times by the deadpan humor rolling smoothly in the dialogues (the Coen Bros continue to be masters of the spoken word and the visual idiom) and the film’s sidetrack- of Davis carrying and pursuing a cat whose owners have forgotten its name. 

The cat in Coens’ film is an excellent device- a metaphor for the last link that Davis has with his fellow human beings, as is his failed romance with Jean, which the writer-directors explore with both snappy lightness and sobering grimness in unexpected, quietly extraordinary ways.

It is indeed pessimistic. The Coen Brothers are clearly gunning for more than just a character study. In the characters that Davis encounters in his twisted odyssey, the film becomes something deeper- an affecting, effortlessly poignant and painful look at life and its ups and downs. From Davis’ domineering sister- who insists that he better correct his language when he tosses out the F-word in her house- to the hopelessly doped and downbeat jazz artist Roland Turner (played with marvelous authenticity by John Goodman) right down the instantly unlikable Pappi (Max Casella) who blurts out that the audience at the rightly named Gaslight Café is only interested in sexual favors, this is one of the Coens’ darkest films since ‘No Country For Old Men’ in the way how they capture society’s decadence and mediocrity with disarmingly raw humor.

And yet Davis remains to be both the film’s light of hope and source of darkness. As the film’s unlikely moral compass, Davis is a character trapped in the surrounding gloom. Oscar Issac, giving the performance of his career, is incredible as Davis. He is constantly unpredictable, he seldom gives us answers and yet he is a character we root for. We can feel Davis’ cynical anger when he sings along making funny sounds in the studio song; we can feel his obvious flaws when he cries out in panic that he has lost the cat and he feels bad about it. Through it all, Issac is tender, melancholic, more befuddled than happy and totally, totally unforgettable.

Some of this might be familiar with last year’s ‘The Master’, that extraordinarily challenging masterpiece which also looked at a particularly harrowing era of America through the prism of an unhinged, misguided man driven by his id. The Coen Brothers’ film is far more inert and subtle than Paul Thomas Anderson’s incendiary, radical bromance but the difference in treatment does not make the arguments less convincing.

Go watch ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’. It is a film which does not make you break into tears or roll down the aisles in chuckles. It is a film however that makes you tap your feet with its instantly catchy folksy tunes and sing aloud as well. It is also something that gives a genuinely flawed character who represents everything that is wrong, messed up yet redeemable about our world. And above all, it is a musical that comes off as the finest portrait of humanity. As Mrs. Gorfein, with her quirky glasses, may say- ‘Music is the best way of expressing your soul’.

My Rating- 5 Stars