The Coen Brothers' film style is summarized as "special and mysterious type of film; simple plot under complex plot; twisted and dark humor; excellent grasp of atmosphere." "Drunk Town Ballad" is a kind of excellent grasp of atmosphere. Typically, everything in the film has a nostalgic vibe to it, but it's still cold and hard, there's no sympathy, criticism, or anything else, they just lead you to follow Llewyn Davis through what he's going through.
The opening scene is the 1961 Gaslight Cafe. Llewyn Davis sings the heartwarming "Hang me oh hang me", a feeling of dying to live, which seems to express Llewyn Davis's belief in artistic pursuits that he has always adhered to. The kind of music that slowly flows into the heart always resonates with countless people.
Llewyn Davis is a musician who sticks to his dreams, he sticks to his ballads, and he sneers at commercial songs. At the end of that amazing song extension at the beginning I don't even think it's a Coen Brothers movie, because it's too warm, less cold and hard and some kind of unpredictable mystery, but the guy in the back alley "in a suit" The unpredictable signal finally came when the guy punched Llewyn Davis, and I'm happy with the punch in this part.
What is the fate of Llewyn Davis? Living on the meager income of the show, borrowing money from friends everywhere, sleeping with people he knows or not, and wanting to keep his dignity, that is, he is returning his friend cat and being invited to dinner by a friend and asking him to sing The reason for his rage after that, he believed that his art should not be sold off to please others in exchange for a dinner. This, of course, also had his emotional breakdown when he learned that he had a child he thought was aborted and was actually two years old.
The houses in the film are very cramped, and the triangular shape between the doors makes people feel breathless, and this is also the life of Llewyn Davis, and life also forced him to breathe. Gene got pregnant because of having sex with a friend's wife, so Gene had to get rid of it, but Llewyn Davis lived in embarrassment, and finally had the opportunity to have a show to get a little pay to get cash so decided not to pay royalties, of course there are For another reason, he asked Jim who wrote the lyrics. It can be seen that he said that he was also scornful of the lyrics. He didn't say it out of his friends' face. But when Llewyn Davis returned to the Lillian couple's house after a disappointing return to New York from Chicago, he was surprised to learn that the song "Please, Mr. Kennedy", which he sneered at, would become a hit, and was asked if he had Take royalties. Well, the Coen brothers really love the loser's story, and their stories are always intertwined without any sloppiness.
I love the constant presence of cats in the film, and when Llewyn Davis found the cat he was looking for was on the street after meeting Gene, he ran after him and thanked Gene "Thank you for offering to meet here". I think that cat is Llewyn Davis. The cats in the film are always appearing. I think the cat is a metaphor here, expressing many aspects. As for what everyone thinks, it should be thousands of people. Llewyn Davis takes care of the cat just like he takes care of his obsessive pursuit of art. When he abandoned the cat on the way to Chicago, maybe he thought he would give up art after hitting a wall everywhere.
Llewyn Davis didn't struggle or suffer when deciding to give up art, obviously he had gone to great lengths to pursue it, concluding that ballads "don't sell for money," so although any Chicago agent appreciates his Music still refused to take him in, as long as he saw the manager's narrow and small office, it was not difficult to understand his decision. It also reminded me of Leslie Leslie's comment on the show that the bosses responded to folk songs, "Folk songs? They're not so popular." Thus, the importance of interests to businessmen is evident.
After spending all the money in his hand to make up the seafarer's dues, he found that his helmsman's card and seaman's card had been lost by his sister, and he still needed money to reissue. I can only describe the fate of Llewyn Davis as tragic. But I'm glad this is a Coen brothers movie, otherwise someone else might have made a story that finally took off. Think about it, how many people like Llewyn Davis are in real life who work so hard to pursue their dreams and get nothing in return.
I like Gene very much. I think she is in love with Llewyn Davis. Although she has been talking badly with Llewyn Davis, every time they meet, they are swearing, but that is the way of expressing love. Gene likes Llewyn Davis, even though Always scolding him but worried that he doesn't have a place to live, and finally got to perform at the Gaslamp Cafe because Gene dedicated himself to the owner of the cafe.
Llewyn Davis is used at the beginning and end of the film to sing in a coffee shop and be beaten, indicating that Llewyn Davis's life has always been such a continuation, just like life is a circle, always in a continuous cycle. There's nothing to be sympathized with or pitied about, just the presentation of life, and I love movies like this.
The Coen brothers have seen "Frozen", "Burn After Reading", "Serious Men" and "No Country for Old Men" before. I remember being at a loss after watching "Serious Men" for the first time, and always felt that it was an unfinished story. Several other films give people a sense of grim coldness, so when I watch "The Ballad of the Drunken Township" now, I really feel it is a very tender film.
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