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O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Directed by Joel Coen
Ok so I knew I was going to see this film at some point. It is a Coen brothers film and was therefore something to see just by default (they DID make Fargo after all).
The film is loosely based on "The Odyssey" by Homer...we all know how big that story is. Except, it's about three guys who live in the 1930's deep south. Everett (George Clooney), Pete (John Turturro), and Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) escape from their prison rock breaking chain gang and head out for Everett's buried treasure.
Most of the film they're running from the cops, running into other people who get them into MORE trouble, well they even make some themselves.
I'm in Illinois right now and I have been for 11 years. However even though I left Tennessee when I was ten, this film reminds me of home. So much more than almost any film I've seen I think. The Coen brothers must have REALLY either studied HARD about the South or grown up there because the characters in this film are FROM THE SOUTH. They are exactly like some people from the deep south. The way they talk, the way they act, everything screams south. Everett, Pete, and Delmar are such fun guys to hang around with too. They just really make me want to run into them while walking down the road some time. They'd be terrific company.
This movie also has some FANTASTIC music. I'm BIG into heavy metal and all that but if the music is good, it's good. It's mostly bluegrass styled with some VERY EARLY country flavor in there...not that GARBAGE they call country that you hear on the radio nowadays. The film in fact starts off with the guy's prison line singing a chorus. There are a lot of characters who sing throughout the film in fact. I'm just glad that the songs reflect the soul of these people and really bring out character that wouldn't be there if not for the music.
I'm actually listening to my favorite tune from the film. "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues". Man what a GREAT soulful song. It's just a voice and guitar but the LIFE, the SOUL behind it just reaches out. Yeah. It's a really good song. Haha.
Switching gears somewhat, this film is one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. I was laughing constantly. Many times I was cracking up at the mayor because he is just southern all the way. Haha. It's just there. You can't explain it until you see it. Until you've known people like this, it just isn't the same.
The funniest scene is a musical-esque number and involves some....unlikely people singing songs. Oh man, I about died. I don't want to say what it was because not expecting it to just happen really made it, but boy is this film really funny.
Ok, so I've talked about the music, the townsfolk, and the comedy, but not so much the main characters. They are (thankfully) all likable. Many films create a group of main characters that mostly are good guys, but often times there's one that has to create a conflict in the group which is usually used for some pointless plot point where there's a fight and members are hurt and get back together and all that nonsense. Not in this one. Even though one character does something bad against his buddies because he was forced into it at one point, the others don't hate him. They realise he did what he needed to do.
This film is beautiful. The movie is filled with a lot of browns and dirt and mud colors but the landscapes are just wonderful. The south is much more lovely than the mindless, flat cornfields up here.
The characters give a life to this film that many films lack. They are funny and silly, they freak out, they mess up, they are fun and loveable.
I loved this movie and sadly it came out in 2000 or else it would be one of my favorite films to come out this year.
I give this film
[4/5]
This movie has a life that most don't have. Everyone is quirky and interesting. Often times funny, but ultimately touching and people I'd like to meet. I can't stop listening to the "Hard Time Floor Killing Blues" now. I seriously seriously wish that more films had depth and were nearly as much fun as this picture. I'm going to go to bed now, and dream about my old home. I might even shed a tear for the days long past and the memories of my old home.....goodnight.
September 13 , 2010
ILLegal Alien: Jedi Link of USA.
Of all the muthafuckas in the world, he's the muthafuckest.
This one is a bizarre case. Some places he fits in, others he stands out. No matter where you find him, he'll always be the same guy as he never puts up a facade for any reason. A filmmaker on the rise he has a vast knowledge of useless garbage. If it's in a movie he's seen it. Thanks to the internet he's seen worse. This one is severely scarred by an incomprehension of how retarded people can be. Generally a loner, he knows few, those few don't always support him so he stands on his own.
He is relentless in his pursuit as a filmmaker and refuses to be left out of a business he wants to see improve. He also has ADD which explains the somewhat "all over" nature of his own description.