Hymns from fugitives to God

Polly 2021-10-20 17:31:33

When I watched "Three Kings Escape", I didn’t know it was a movie by the Coen brothers, but when the first scene appeared, a line of prisoners lined up, singing songs related to God in a deep voice, and the three were connected in a string. There are protagonists with neurotic faces, funny escapes, and the black prophet who is blind but can see reality and predict the future. Suddenly I felt a sense of acquaintance, and I checked it immediately and found that it was Cohen's work.
I don't know much about Odyssey and Homer, and my understanding of Greek mythology is only "Roman Mythology", a children's book I read when I was a child. Therefore, there is no basic understanding of the plot of the whole movie, but from the beginning of the film, the black and white picture is started, and then it is filled with color bit by bit. At the end, as the distant prophet turns black and white again, we can know that this is just a modern prophecy set in the United States at the beginning of the 20th century. It echoes before and after the beginning and end pictures, just like "Thunder in the Ground".
Religion, as always, is the theme in the films of the Cohen Brothers. I still remember the "Serious Man in the Rain and the Fog" that I watched. Compared to the obscure Judaism, "The Three Kings" is based on Greek mythology. It's a lot simpler. The shadow of religion can be clearly felt everywhere. In the woods by the river, I ran into a baptist, the black Tommy who was dedicated to the devil’s soul in exchange for his guitar skills, and the one-eyed Dadan who had been leading the hunt for them, like the devil, maybe the devil’s sheriff, using the bible as a guise, And the KKK lynching party that finally changed the fate of the three. Almost all the important scenes in the film are full of religious meaning. For the protagonist Everett's shaping, it is also more obvious. Everett refused to accept the baptism of atonement and laughed at his two accomplices. When facing the rope that was about to wrap around his neck in the forest hut, his prayers were unprecedentedly pious. Following a flood saved their lives, while holding the damned coffin to regain a new life, Everett attributed all this to science and coincidence, but when looking at the cow on the roof, the sentence "not a moment too soon" revealed everything. Most of the characters in the film are very vivid, which is in line with the tradition of film noir. The scheming mayor, the brainless son, the flattering staff, the young and energetic competitors, these interspersed among them, undoubtedly enriched the color of this prophecy.
The soundtrack of the film is undoubtedly one of the highlights of the film. Regardless of the song of the trio that is popular throughout the state, even the song hummed by the gravedigger is very beautiful. The sound effects in the film are also very tightly integrated. Whether it is the sound of prisoners beating on the roadbed, the gurgling water, and the pace of the 3K party gathering, they all complement the singing. If it is added that the heartthrob George Clooney touches his head, looks awkward, and is embarrassed by the beating, the film is still worth watching.

View more about O Brother, Where Art Thou? reviews

Extended Reading

O Brother, Where Art Thou? quotes

  • Big Dan Teague: You don't say much my friend, but when you do it's to the point, and I salute you for it.

  • Ulysses Everett McGill: I am the only daddy you got! I'm the damn paterfamilias!

    Wharvey Gal: But you ain't bona fide!