Opening 5 Dec 2013
Directed by:
Ethan Coen
Writing credits:
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Principal actors:
Oscar Isaac, Carrie Mulligan, Justin Timberlake, Ethan Phillips, Robin Bartlett
In 1961 Llewyn Davis plays folk music in one of the little off-beat clubs in New York. He is one of those striving-to-be artists that keep missing the boat. His emotions flow into the music, which is one of the only ways he can truly express himself. He sleeps from couch to couch and ends up caring for an orange cat which seems to be able to project more emotion than he is able to muster up. He is surrounded by people who take success in stride and, due to his incapacity to express himself, his friends show him very little respect. The cinematography captures a smoky atmosphere where a sinking feeling slowly crawls inside us as if we can sense his failure before it takes place.
The Coen brothers have successfully made a melancholic film showing the reality of so many musicians who are struggling to make but never find their place in the limelight. (Shelly Schoeneshoefer)
