An Inside Llewyn Davis trailer popped up yesterday, popularized by indiewire.com. Despite reservations about a lack of plot that I voiced in my 2013 movies to look forward to, I think this could be one of the best Coen Brothers films ever.
The movie seems to embrace that it has no plot in the traditional sense. This guy is a screw up. He’s a jobless wanderer, and even the women he impregnated has nothing good to say about him. But what’s that at the end?
Well, of course the Coen Brothers cut the trailer short. That should tell you that that’s the point. Perhaps, that’s the only thing good about him, and that’s the entire point of the movie.
Just think about the time period, which IndieWire.com rightly points out is portrayed subtly in the cinematography, and the musicians living in that part of New York creating the folk music scene. They were losers. In my opinion, they weren’t even hip enough to be considered hippies. But they were damn good at playing music, and they took it seriously. It was informed by their life, and perhaps by the alternative nature of their life. They performed mostly hand-me-down songs, maybe (and this is a little bit of reaching, admittedly) because they were trying to connect to something more meaningful than their own time. It’s the same way we look at that folk-era, through rose-colored glasses. How meta of you, Coen Brothers, if this is a commentary you’re intending.
But you can see the underlying sub-theme here too. Llewyn Davis’s life is so hectic and out-of-hand that although he carries his guitar around constantly, he’s actually surprised that someone wants him to play it. But somehow, because the trailer has shown this lead character as a complete loser, you fully expect the sound that will follow to be magical. Let’s just hope it is, and let’s hope the brothers keep it under wraps to force people to experience it firsthand in theaters… whenever it comes out. There’s no release date. But expect one any day now. I’ll keep you abreast.
What did you think of the trailer? Tell us in the comments below.