O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

Whilst perusing the school lobrary's DVD section, I spotted this. I know of Coen brothers. I've seen Fargo, No Country for Old Men, Intolerable Cruelty and of course, Raising Arizona. Didn't get No Country for Old Men, really liked Intolerable Cruelty (It appeared to me a throwback to some of the romantic comedy type films of the 30s/40s), Grew up on Raising Arizona and really enjoyed Fargo.

But I heard recently that O Brother, Where Art Thou? Was loosely based on the Odyssey and featured the original version of 'Oh Death' that had been played ad-naseum for the Supernatural TV promos as of late. Now, I adore that sort of "Old Timey" music so I checked out this film in hopes of hearing the original version.

Thank god I did. Loved this movie. Loved the allusions to Greek Myth, the visuals, loved the characters. really enjoyed them playing reality and fantasy. I was having a good time, but the thing that sealed the deal for me was Tommy/Robert Johnson character. Then the scene with the Sirens....

Suffice to say, I am officially a fan of the Coen Brothers now, and look forward to re-evaluating No Country for Old Men in addition to the other films of their's I've yet to see.

This film, despite its occasionally darker nature, just seems like a love letter to American folk music. The often biblical/mythological nature of most of the lyrics, the earnestness and their setting I think really transcends time and creed. If anything positive can be made of the culture of what we know as 'The South," I believe that would be the music and literature it spawned compared to the relative aesthetic legacy of 'The North'.

Also: Stunning Scenes:
The Baptism with the folks in white walking through the woods singing "Let's Go Down to the River"

The beginning sequence in the fields

The Sirens

The Klan with "Oh Death"

And the final confrontation with The Lawman/Satan and the singing of the three gravediggers.

Delmar/Nelson is incredibly endearing. I gasped along with him when Goodman's oneyed preacherman squished the frog. I was so happy they busted out Pete.

And yay! Can I be the treasurer? IC may not have been a revelation of a film, but was far from a waste of space. I didn't know the Coens didn't intend to direct it but I can see that in retrospect, given it's far outside their 'box.' I think it just reeks of that 'Golden Age of Hollywood' style - see it in black and white and I think it'd be virtually indistinguishable from films of the period. Perhaps the ugliness accounts for its appeal with me.

The DVD I was watching cut out right after the political opponent mentioned Tommy selling his soul to the Devil in front of the crowd to I think when the Soggy-bottomed Boys started playing. What did I miss?

I know this term gets bandied about a lot, but I think Clooney can safely be ranked as a Movie! Star! along Will Smith. He might not have the broader, mass appeal...but I think the man is untouchable even if not every film of his is a blockbuster. Most people like to make the Carey Grant comparison, but I think he's also in the Clark Gable vein as well. Perhaps moreso.

Joey! Please please please let me watch this on Bluray if you get it? Pleaaase?

I saw the roll-top desk sequence. It's while they're still in the same building. Itt cuts back in when the governor (mayor?) then laughs the opponent out and they start playing again after being pardoned. I don't think it's that long of a cutout, but I missed the end of his statement.

Maybe it's just me, but the Klan ceremony...though I doubt it's accurate, more reminds me of the festival/ritual scenes you see in a lot of Kurosawa films. Cultural, archaic, with the song turning into more of a chant than a tune.

In case anyone thinks otherwise, I mean cultural as in typical of the time/period/location rather than of anything of actual significant cultural merit.

Just to comment on the significance of the Odyssey motifs and allusions.
Like Beowulf, the story of the Odyssey is one of those ubiquitous 'protomyths'...Nearly every myth, folktale or legend can be tied to back to a previous version and so I saw the mythological allusions as a way to make the film rise above the period setting into something more timeless. The story becomes less about the particular trappings in the film and more about the idea of the Journey. I'm sure there is someone out there with a formal degree in this sort of thing that could say it definitively, but it's all very "Campbellian."

Take for example, the Robert/Tommy Johnson making a deal with the Devil at the Crossroads. It's a common motif repeated in African culture, in western civilization with Faust and beyond. Even the use of folk music, with the simple themes and at time repetitive nature, is similar in execution to the chants and rituals of religion. Perhaps it's a way to pin an additional spiritual element to the film.

It's why Anton Chigurh is Death Incarnate while wearing black, it's why Leonard Smalls is a harbinger of doom in Raising Arizona (and Cage so endearingly an everyman). There's something about these repeated motifs and symbols that resonate with so many people (And perhaps why so many Big! Blockbusters! seem so standard). Perhaps it's the Collective Consciousness of Jueng.

....If that offers any insight. I'm tempted to start a thread about "Movies and Mythos" because as a student of art history, you see the same sort of themes repeated in the visual arts, sometimes despite the intentions of the artists.