That don't matter none. The real question is this:
'Is you is - or is you ain't - my constitch-ensy?'
This movie is (IMHO) a glorious, old-timey love-letter to a bygone era using an ancient storytelling format with a thoroughly modern twist or ten. If you know anything of the history and culture of the American period depicted, it's absolutely hilarious while still managing to tip its hat in respect and tribute. Touching and unforgettable - even haunting in places.
Of course, a fondness for bluegrass and old-time, mountain music adds enormously to one's enjoyment. I will never get enough of Dan Tyminski's rendition (lip-synched by Clooney) of "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow". He's been with Alison Krauss and Union Station for a long time - an incredible collaboration of near-genius talent. This is without even mentioning the great Ralph Stanley ('O Death') or the peerless Emmylou Harris (in the trio 'Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby'), among many other unforgettable musical numbers.
The glorious choral, mystical performance of "As I went down to the river to pray..." scene is nevertheless end-capped by the buffoonish, self-important Everett's guffawing observation, "You two are just dumber than a bag of hammers". Well, yes. And maybe not quite.
The cozying up of the utterly absurd with sober, even profound everyday moments - the stuff in life we can't explain, those moments that seem mystical but all too quickly turn to farce. There's farce to be found in profundity and vice versa. I think the Coen Bros do this expertly.
If nothing else, OBWAT is visually and musically spellbinding with a whole gol' durn truckload of memorable one-liners, while exploring how one might try to get by in life as best one can when times are hard and the whole durn whirl seems to be agin yuh.
Do. Not. Seek. The. Treasure!
Sometimes the treasure needs to seek you. Give this one a rest for a spell, then come back at it to see whether it's bona fide.
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kay_rock
10 years ago
I agree with WDformerWB (and an excellent description of the film!).
This movie is remarkable, absurd, funny, and brilliant. The very idea of a tongue-in-cheek adaptation of Homer's Odyssey is clever and unexpected, and they pulled it off wonderfully.
I've heard a lot of hate for this movie over the years, and I can't understand it. It may not be someone's cup of tea, but you have to respect the concept. Students of classic literature should be delighted (even if you even only suffered one semester in college, you definitely studied the Odyssey). The allegories all hold true even in this strange new setting. There's not a single wasted scene. I find it all very gratifying.
If you hate the film, or are bored by it, go read Homer then come back and give it another shot.
I've spoken my peace, and counted to three.
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Movies are IQ tests. The IMDB boards are each person's opportunity to broadcast their score.
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ppllkk
10 years ago
kay_rock wrote:
Students of classic literature should be delighted (even if you even only suffered one semester in college, you definitely studied the Odyssey).
Actually, knowing the
Odyssey well is a serious impediment to enjoying this movie. It is based on about one quarter of the original work, and has very little to do with what the Odyssey is actually about. It is based on the part of the
Odyssey that everyone knows — is Classics Comics still around — and the incidents in Odysseus's story of his travels is transformed into a Southern setting in the 30s with varying degrees of accuracy.I only enjoyed the movie after I got over the idea that it was in some sense a retelling of the
Odyssey. I believe the best way to take the film is to see Ulysses as an epigon of Odysseus, an antihero suitable for our unheroic age.
The allegories all hold true even in this strange new setting.
What allegories?
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