3 Comments

  1. Stephen Policoff

    Thanks for this piece. I have been somewhat perplexed by the negative reponses to this film which I have read (mostly on FB). Although some of the points made are interesting & valid (e.g. the issue of abortion at that time), a lot of comments seem to miss the main thrust of the film. This is a Journey tale, and like most of the Coen Brothers’ films it is a dark and ambiguous journey. Llewyn Davis may or may not deserve more success and less of a miserable life but it is the journey he has chosen and he stays true to it. Some critic pointed out that it is only when he sings that he seems to come alive and takes himself out of the darkness his journey/life has thrust him into. I found that aspect of the film very moving and think that the film as a whole is a remarkable piece of film art, even if it does not completely represent what many seem to wish it represented, a paean to that time and place. I am a fan of all of your various doings, especially the Brooklyn and Wash. Sq. Park Festivals. Happy 2014.

  2. A very good article. You probably know this, but the woman who was singing and playing autoharp was, of course, Nancy Blake. That makes Davis’ drunken rudeness towards her seem somehow worse. And the reference to the NYT reporter is a nod to a real event–the New York Times review of Dylan that began his rise to fame beyond the Village. (I guess the Coen brothers’ sly idea is that the reviewer saw Dylan and Davis both, but chose to write about only one.)

    The memory of this film lingers long past viewing for me.

  3. Great commentary on Inside Llewyn Davis. I like your inclusion of the Brody quote about Bob Dylan as the arrival of the “singer-songwriter.” Llewyn just replays old songs, but Dylan used old songs as a framework for new songs.

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