Under a dreary winter sky in Greenwich Village, Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) lugs a guitar and a cat through the streets, looking for a place to play or a place to stay. That about sums up "Inside Llewyn Davis", the Grand Jury Prize winning film at Cannes by Joel and Ethan Coen. The year is 1961, and Bob Dylan hasn't yet revolutionized the world of music. Llewyn Davis is a struggling folk musician that's currently living on a couch-to-couch basis. Sometimes he crashes with his upscale academic friends, the Gorfein's, in their lavish Upper West Side apartment. Other times, his married friends Jim and Jean (Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan) will lend him the couch in their crummy corner - much to the dismay of Jean. She has no patience for Llewyn's self-destructive behavior, and spends much of the film berating him. She's got good reason to be mad - at both him and herself - as she's pregnant, and there's a chance Llewyn could be the father.
That's just the first of many struggles that "Inside Llewyn Davis" presents its titular character. Without money, a home, or a winter coat, Llewyn constantly finds himself on the wrong side of every situation. He even manages to turn a good opportunity - recording a goofy pop song with Jim - into a stabbing defeat in the long run. Llewyn is the quintessential 60's beatnik, wanting to make money off his music, but not so much money that he could be considered a sell-out. He wants to stay true to himself and his songs; the irony being that the songs aren't really his, as he's just playing old folk songs that have been around for ages.
The Coen Brothers chose to record all the films' music live on set, to lend "Inside Llewyn Davis" a cinéma vérité feel. Oscar Isaac showcases remarkable ability as both an actor and a musician, capturing the strife of Llewyn in song and manner. Most of the songs Llewyn sings are shown in their entirety without many cuts, so Isaac truly had to develop the talent of a professional performer. The result is entirely natural and authentic, just the way Llewyn would want it.
The music of "Inside Llewyn Davis" is just as important as the main character. T Bone Burnett and Marcus Mumford (the latter known for his band Mumford and Sons) acted as music producers for the film, assisting in choosing the songs that fill Llewyn's life. His folk songs are timeless and beautifully performed, but they don't do much to propel him towards success. For the film, the songs hammer home the somber tone of Llewyn's life. He may have some high points, but for this particular week that we are watching him, he's got nothing but unhappiness filling his pockets. He's worn out and he's not doing himself any favors, and the music reflects that.
There's something special about the Coen Brothers, as nobody films failure quite like them. "Inside Llewyn Davis" doesn't have a happy bone in its body (not to be confused with humor, of which there is a good amount). Yet no matter how bad things get for our protagonist, it never feels so overbearing as to make the movie uninviting. Many movies that lean towards the depressing will leave the audience with a deep-seeded frustration in their stomach, and might even prevent them from wanting to view the film again. But the Coen's find just the right balance here, making "Inside Llewyn Davis" repeatedly watchable without sacrificing that heartbroken feeling.
Llewyn's week takes him to a lot of couches in a lot of places, and each stop gives us more information about the musician, his city, and his time. By the end, we find Llewyn hasn't really gone anywhere - an Odysseus that can't get off the island. Is this week the end of his life? Not at all. It's just one chapter in a story that is likely to repeat itself. For what it's worth, it's a damn good story.
