Inside Llewyn Davis, Outside of Time

“I wouldn’t mind the hanging,

but the laying in the grave so long, poor boy,

I been around this world.”

The theater lights dim down, the smell of popcorn is in the air, and the soft, sultry sounds of Oscar Isaac’s voice fill the Brattle as Ethan and Joel Coen’s newest film, Inside Llewyn Davis begins. Suddenly, we are not in Cambridge in 2013, but rather 1961 New York– the famous Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village, to be exact.

Llewyn's cat and his guitar are perfectly blended in this poster for Inside Llewyn Davis | Promotional photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company
Llewyn’s cat and his guitar are perfectly blended in this poster for Inside Llewyn Davis | Promotional photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Those familiar with the Coen Brothers’ previous work (ie. True GritBurn After Reading, and No Country for Old Men, among others) will quickly recognize the film’s combination of the hardships of life with somewhat nonsensical comedy (teaser: a middle-aged woman yelling, “WHERE IS HIS SCROTUM?!”), a signature of the filmmaking duo. Inside Llewyn Davis takes us through a week in the life of, you guessed it, Llewyn Davis, played by Oscar Isaac. Davis, based off of real-life Brooklyn-based folk singer Dave Van Ronk, is a struggling musician trying to make it in New York while simultaneously looking for a couch to crash on for the night.

In just the second scene, Davis is forced to take responsibility for a friend’s cat after accidentally letting it out of the apartment–a cat which quickly becomes a metaphor for Davis’ own nomadic life. This cat, while downright adorable, also serves an important purpose in the film. As Isaac put it at the Q&A session after this particular screening of the film at the Brattle Theater, the cat is Llewyn’s “spirit animal, his responsibility, his humanity.” Just as the cat travels without a real home, so does Davis. Just as the cat must take full responsibility for its own destiny (Davis is a pretty awful pet-owner and constantly loses the cat), so does Davis.

Oscar Isaac answers the audience's questions after the screening at the Brattle | Photo courtesy of Beth St. John
Oscar Isaac answers the audience’s questions after the screening at the Brattle | Photo courtesy of Beth St. John

Besides the parallel between the musician and his pet, it would be impossible to talk about this movie without raving about its soundtrack (which is available on iTunes). Oscar Isaac’s voice is pure gold, the soft, acoustic strums of the guitar are both soothing and evocative, and the style of music (think Bob Dylan meets Mumford & Sons) fits in perfectly with Davis’ wonderfully indie-grunge life. The soundtrack was produced by Academy Award winning producer, T Bone Burnett, and was performed by the actors live on set. So all the moments where you can hear the gravel in Isaac’s voice are real blends of genuine emotion and talent. As Isaac notes, his character is hard to reach throughout the film, being a stand-offish musician, but when he starts to sing, he is completely accessible and vulnerable. When asked to play a single song for a potential producer, Davis performs what Isaac deems an “old medieval song about a C-section” instead of his hit that we hear throughout the film because it perfectly expresses how he feels in that moment. He does not contrive his own emotions in order to impress the producer; instead, he stays true to how he feels and accepts the inevitable rejection that comes as a result. In this way, the music in the film really becomes part of the development of the story instead of just a melody in the background.

Be sure to check out Inside Llewyn Davis this December | Promotional photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company
Be sure to check out Inside Llewyn Davis this December | Promotional photo courtesy of The Weinstein Company

Other than the talented frontman, the film also boasts an impressive supporting cast, including John Goodman, Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, and Justin Timberlake. Each actor brings the right touch of comedy to his or her character: Goodman with his ever-grumpy drunkard, Mulligan with her viciously hormonal pregnant woman, Hedlund with his James Dean-esque introvert, and Timberlake with his squeaky-clean sweater vest-donned side act. No one makes their minor character shine brighter, however, than Adam Driver. In his one major scene, Driver steals the show during a parodied performance of “Please, Mr. Kennedy” by himself, Isaac, and Timberlake in which the trio begs JFK not to send them into outer space. Isaac explains how the Coen’s urged everyone to push their characters’ traits to the limits, saying Ethan would “push Adam into weirder sounds” after every take of that scene.

Though the thought of watching a man repeatedly fail in what Isaac jokingly calls the “passion of the folk artist” may not sound incredibly appealing to a potential movie-goer, Inside Llewyn Davis brilliantly offsets Davis’ upsetting rejections with sharp, sardonic humor. As the lights come back on in the theater, it is hard to remember that the Gaslight Cafe has been closed for decades, and Llewyn Davis’ music has come and gone. Perhaps, it is because Davis’ indie-folk style is all the more relevant today with the rise of other hopeful folk artists. His story is only too real for many present-day aspiring musicians, despite the gap in time. The film takes place in 1961, but the story is still going on today. Even the way the film itself handles the passage of time suggests time as an interweaving web more than a linear progression– something you will have to see for yourself in order to understand better.

Inside Llewyn Davis comes out in theaters December 20, and the soundtrack is now available on iTunes (and well worth the purchase!).

About Beth St. John

Beth St. John is an English major in the College of Arts and Sciences. She was born and raised in New Jersey but now happily calls Boston home. When she's not reading a book or watching a movie she's probably eating copious amounts of chocolate.

View all posts by Beth St. John →

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