The protagonist sings in a bar called Gaslight every night. He is a disgruntled folk singer. His records are not selling well, and his partner commits suicide, but he refuses to change his musical principles to suit the public's taste and make commercial music. As a result of living poor and embarrassed, every night only to find a friend's house for a night. Can't get along in New York, try your luck in Chicago, fail, and refuse to join a trio that will most likely be a big hit in the future, Peter, Paul & Mary. His sister persuaded him to run the boat, but he scoffed at it, thinking that it was just a joke, "just exist". But the pressure of life forced him to drop his dignity and give up music to try to run the boat, but he also failed by accident. In the movie, he went around and around, passing by the opportunity, unable to find a way out, and had to go back to the bar to sing, as if everything went back to the original point, as if he was caught in the predicament of Sisyphus. At the end of the film, he walked out of the bar silently, watching a young man with a harmonica, guitar and singing with a unique voice, did he foresee the great success of this young man (Bob Dylan) in the future?
Using flashbacks, the Coen brothers skillfully weave the cyclical life of their protagonists, using a cat named Ulysses as a metaphor for such (unsuccessful) dreamers who go through all the hardships and finally return to the home of music. For example, a song in the film sings: I know the warmth and self-knowledge, and gradually grow up in the dream, gradually grow old, until I die.
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