This "Drunken Country Ballad" by the Coen brothers is mainly inspired by the memoir "The Mayor of McDougall Street" by Dave Van Ronk, the prototype of the film's protagonist Levine Davis. The abundance of first-hand material in the original work and the secret lives of real folk musicians give the Coen brothers the overall gloomy atmosphere in which the Coen brothers created this story and the emotional tension of the underdog's grief and frustration. If there is only one winner in a million people, most directors will choose to shoot the one in a million, but the Coen brothers chose the story of the denominator.
In the desolate winter day and the gray sky, the film creates an unchanging cold and sad tone. The bleak winter symbolizes the embarrassing situation in which folk musicians are isolated and not understood by ordinary people, just like Le Verne Davis's sister did not understand her brother's artistic pursuit, and persuaded him to give up and return to the sailor who can support his family. . And at the most embarrassing time of Levin Davis, it did want to go back to the old business, but a series of changes still prompted him to continue singing at the Gaslamp Cafe and forged his music legend. The gloomy sky is the fate of the musician's uncertain future. One moment LeVern Davis was singing in a cafe, the next he was beaten up and bruised. On the stage, they can sing and express freely, but when they get to the stage, they have to run around for a living. Dreams and reality are so close and yet so far.
In fact, a detail in the film reflects a darker music circle secret. After a lot of failures, the despondent Levine Davis got another chance to sing at the Gaslamp Cafe, but it was his lover Joan who exchanged his body for it. LeVine Davis, who learned the truth at the cafe, was furious and completely ruined the cafe's singing program that night. How many people are desperate for their dreams? How many people use other people's dreams to do some shameful deeds? In this morbidly deformed society, people with ideals and aspirations are often the losers in the eyes of others, while those bigwigs who play with power and money have become the objects of worship by their full names.
The film spends a lot of time documenting an episode in which LeVine Davis hopes to break into Chicago. Unable to get along in Greenwich Village, New York, Levine Davies hopes to find someone who knows the goods in Los Angeles and find opportunities for development. Being chased for drinking coffee at a cafe, resting at the train station, without a coat, and soaking your socks in snow water, you will experience the chills that go straight to your heart on the road to success. However, Levine Davis, who has gone through hardships along the way and finally reached his destination, was ignored and neglected. The agency's denial of talent and consideration of commercial interests made him unacceptable, and he eventually returned home.
Another point worth exploring in the film is the shaping of the folk circle and music by the Coen brothers. With the help of the intersection of Levien Davis and a group of folk musicians, "Drunken Country Ballad" uses exquisite photography and original sound music to bring the audience back. To the Greenwich Village where the ballads rose. At the beginning of the film, Levine Davis sang "Hang Me, oh Hang Me" at the Gaslight Cafe. The excellent lighting and photography directly drew the audience into that circle, and from then on you were in Levine. Davis has witnessed his stumbled, disgraced path to music by his side. We witnessed his life with the then obscure but now well-regarded musicians, who supported each other, and where sleeping and borrowing money were commonplace. They run around with dreams, but they are bruised and bruised by reality. At the end of the film, Bob Dean appears. At this time, Levin Davis has not yet had an intersection with the later king of the folk world. He just glanced at the young man who was singing "Farewell". Yet another musical legend.
Most of the music used in the film is displayed as a whole. Cohen's excellent play did not make the film into an MV, and these songs are the welfare of the Coen brothers to the fans. From then on, we have another soundtrack album that will never get tired of listening. Another classic piece of music.
If you want to find a bright color in "The Ballad of Drunken Township", it is the golden cute cat named "Ulysses". This cat, whose "name" was finally revealed, has gone through a loss, a change of package, and a return. It was like a cat who went to Los Angeles to look for opportunities, and even gave up at one point. Like Levine Davis, the folk musician who ruled the village, he wanted to be free, but he could only survive if he was trapped in bondage.
At the end of the film, the Coen brothers gave a surprise. Like great works such as "The Rain is Coming" and "The Sun Also Rises", "The Ballad of Drunken Township" adopts a loopback structure. Levine Davis wakes up after boarding, this time "Ulysses" doesn't follow, after singing at Gaslight Cafe, he gets a beating, and the audience seems to see him repeating again and again This beast struggle between dream and reality, but success, when will it come? This ending for the audience is worth savoring.
Transferred from Time Network Paradox
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