How was Llewyn Davis such a compelling character? There wasn't anything likeable about him, and plenty to dislike...

How was Llewyn Davis such a compelling character? There wasn't anything likeable about him, and plenty to dislike. All of his problems were of his own making, and he kept on causing himself and everyone around him grief. He took advantage of his friends, and wasn't grateful for any of them, or the chances that they kept giving him for reasons unknown.

And yet, despite all of that, you were right there with him the whole time, hoping that he would finally make it or that he'd finally turn the corner and emerge a better person.

How the hell did they get us on his side despite the fact that he didn't deserve to have anyone on his side?

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Because his partner killed himself.

That's really the only reason why everyone, audience included, was willing to put up with his attitude.

He wasn't a compelling character.

you didn't know that till halfway thru tho

>There wasn't anything likeable about him, and plenty to dislike. All of his problems were of his own making, and he kept on causing himself and everyone around him grief. He took advantage of his friends, and wasn't grateful for any of them, or the chances that they kept giving him for reasons unknown.

Because that's been us at some point

What he said in context of only the movie.
But in reality he was a screw up but not a loser like many of us. Kind of a dick but without any malicious intent. He was selfish but driven. If you can relate, you'll find him compelling.

I think a big part of it is Isaac's performance. Llewyn is a massive cunt, almost more than his personal tragedies can really forgive, but Isaac plays him so well that it seems like he has much more depth to him than being a sad snob. He does, of course, but it's very easy to see the same character come off as 1 dimensional

Because he was a musician. Not an entertainer, not a showman. An uncompromising one at that.

it's implied in the first scene you fucking moron

Abortion is murder.

not explicated though

Yep. A fuck up, not a loser.

I don't really understand why people think this movie is so fucking good..

I mean I enjoyed it but like, damn people REALLY enjoy it

It's probably the most human story, told by two of the most talented writer/directors in Hollywood. I love the Coens something fierce, but this is them at their most human.

I liked LLewyn because he wasn't cruel. just bitter and angry. If he was a flat out sociopath then we wouldn't have cared.

Yeah usually the Coens have a tendency to scoff and laugh at their characters, but here they seem to really empathize with him

>Uncompromising
More that he played the one same song over and over even though it was meant as a duet. He was emotionally and artistically stunted from his friends death

Because it's a (terrifically acted) story about sticking to your own guns, everyone else be damned, having the utmost pride and respect for what you do even in the face of detractors, shortcuts or outside influence and falling short while being an inch from success, whatever success might've meant. It's also probably the most honest set of characters we've seen out of the Coens.

i can't seem to get Vince' face whenever i see Oscar

I think you're lionizing Llewyn a bit much. He was talented for sure, but not some great lost artist. It ends with an even better guy stepping onto the stage right as he gets off. His lack of shortcuts only left him friendless and broke, and his "pride and respect" for his music was mostly just refusing to change after a traumatic experience like I said above you.

I see his final performance as a complete failure as an artist. He gets up there and plays Fair Thee Well for the dozenth time in the film, it's as good as ever, then he wanders off. All this shit happens to him over the course of the film yet he's learned nothing and has nothing new to say. And I think he knows that, and that's why he harasses the fat woman. She is able to be sincere and fearless and use music as something personal and expressive, and he just cannot anymore

That was the point. The film is suppose to make you sympathize with him regardless of the fact that he wasn't a great guy. If the movie didn't get you to do that, then you'd have a right to complain. But you're pointing out the obvious.

It certainly helps that the movie starts with him in contrast to total assholes. The first things we see is that he can sing, he gets beaten up for no reason, then he blamed for everyone else's problems (I cheated on my husband with you and got pregnant so it's all your fault you fucker, you never take responsibility for your actions and this is all your fault so give me money again). Nothing enders you to someone more than watching them struggle.

>I'm tired. I'm so fucking tired. I thought I just needed a night's sleep but it's more than that. But thank you, for trying. I love you.

He's not an unlikable asshole, he's just a complete fuck-up. He 's a guy who does something pretty damn well but won't compromise and won't stop getting in his own fucking way professionally. He turns down a share in a song for the 200 bucks of the recording session. He started as part of a duo and now he's foolishly trying to go it alone when everyone thinks he should be part of another duo. He gets drunk and heckles other folk artists because he's insecure about his own lack of success.

He's just a born fuck-up. That's why he's relatable.

>He turns down a share in a song for the 200 bucks of the recording session.
To be fair, he needed money fast.

Fuck I love this movie. 3 years later and I still regularly listen to the soundtrack.

I can't really be objective about this movie though, as I relate more to Llewyn than any other character I can think of....I'm a fuck up, and it's my own damn fault, and yet I can't get out of this pattern of counterproductive behavior due to how bitter and deflated I am from life's disappointments.

And he had every reason to turn down the shares; there isn't money in novelty music. He had no idea it was going to be a hit.

He could have schlepped on some couches or made it work. He wasn't even thinking of the potential payout down the line though, that's the real issue. He didn't struggle with the decision he just threw that money away

Llewyn may be a cunt but he's following his dream and more than the times he's a cunt he also fails repeatedly. That's what makes him so human and relateable, that he's a cunt sometimes but also at the mercy of circumstance just like all of us.

>he could have hauled or carried on some couches to make it work
I don't think you know what schlep means

All because he was trying to do the right thing. Him missing out on a big payday for Please Mr Kennedy is such a Coen Brothers thing to do. The universe just had to stick it to him in every possible way. Reminds me of Larry Gopnik in A Serious man.

UH-OH

Because Oscar Isaac is a damn handsome man with charisma, and can channel that into a weird kind of anti-charisma when playing a dickhead.

Fun fact: Oscar Isaac's melancholy, deadpan face as Llewyn is modeled on Buster Keaton. Watching Keaton after Inside Llewyn Davis was amusing.

How exactly is a deadpan face modeled after anyone?

A while back someone from Pixar posted their "22 rules of storytelling". One of them that's almost always appropriate is" You admire a character for trying more than for their successes."

Llewyn is trying. He's trying to be a success, he's trying to be a decent person, he's trying to take responsibility for his actions, he's trying to have artistic integrity and he's trying to look after that cat. He fails, almost entirely, at everything, but it's the effort we admire.

It's a common feature of Coen Brother films. The protagonists are trapped by their own flaws and the lives they've build for themselves, but you can't help for sympathise with their plight. The Dude is a little bit different. In his case it's the lack of plight that's so admirable.

I am not lionizing anyone. LLewyn is a guy who eschewed most all other singer/songwriters around him as either kids, sellouts or relics of bygone eras and stuck to his guns. His musical talent is irrelevant.

What is relevant is him missing the train when a shift in the music industry happens in front of his nose, after he's given all he had, emotionally, socially and financially. So Bob Dylan is/was better? So what. People still know who Van Ronk is. This isn't a chess match with only one winner.

I can respect your interpretation that playing the one song he and his dead partner co-wrote over and over again as an indication of being stuck but it's far from being the only one. Especially when grieving is a very real and very personal process for every person. Nobody knows why he's fixated with the song. Maybe he doesn't have it in him to move on, maybe he's exorcising his ghosts, maybe it's just part of his set and something he wants people to know despite the failure of his earlier project. As for harassing the fat woman, you can just as easily turn that around. He's the one whose material hurts at a personal level, whose song symbolizes the loss he had to face and by performing it he's pouring his heart on stage, whereas she's the one singing a folk song she heard somewhere that doesn't mean anything to her and that's lost in time and irrelevant to the time and place. She's the one dropping in from Mars, singing something she heard on the radio thinking it'll bring her fame and fortune if she pretends she's like everyone else.

Well, the Dude's taking it easy for all us sinners.

Fare Thee Well is supposed to be a duet? I don't think I've ever heard with accompaniment.

youtube.com/watch?v=W4GyKTRduhs

Dude, it's literally the first scene in the movie.

he reminds me of myself.

Holy shit. And I thought it was already gorgeous with just Isaac.

>fucking moron

He was the cause and effect of all his own problems. Most anyone can relate not just Sup Forums turds

>(You)
>>fucking moron

this movie is for gay hipsters

>whereas she's the one singing a folk song she heard somewhere that doesn't mean anything to her and that's lost in time and irrelevant to the time and place. She's the one dropping in from Mars, singing something she heard on the radio thinking it'll bring her fame and fortune if she pretends she's like everyone else.

You're as big an asshole as Llewyn if you really think this. How is she "pretending to be like everyone else" when she's this fat odd housewife from wherever and they're 20-something hipsters in NYC playing appropriated folk music? She's meant to represent the real grassroot folk music, where any person from Bumfuck, Country can be a part of something bigger than themselves if they sing. Meanwhile Llewyn is increasingly alone and fixated on being alone. She's a foil to him in so many ways, I really can't sympathize with your reading of her as some poser.

And Fare Thee Well is also "lost in time", it's dated back to the turn of the century. It's Llewyn's take on it that makes it personal just as much as hers.

Oscar Isaac in Rolling Stone interview:

Does he smile the entire movie, ever?
Barely. I was thinking a lot about the comedy of resilience and why that's funny, and is it because we're like, "Oh thank God that's not me?" I thought about Buster Keaton a lot, and I'm like, "Why is that so funny?" His face never changes. Whereas Chaplin would run the gamut of emotion on his face. But I thought that was interesting, so I did some social experiments where I would go to parties and I would try not smiling. And even when he plays music, there's no cathartic moment. There's not a moment when he starts crying. There are a couple moments when he really gets frustrated, but even then it's always just kind of held in.

literally me

My Criterion collection will never be complete because this flaming bag of dogshit will never sit on my shelf. Artistic but without merit, pretentious but no depth, just a terrible piece of work.

Are you saying you'd rather have this on your shelf than Inside Llewyn Davis?

Well. Look at how cool you are. I bet you have a very large penis too.

I hear you, bro. You can't, in good conscience, put this next to those holy Michael Bay masterpieces.

I firmly believe that he did nothing wrong.
All his behaviors can be justified.

Llewyn's case is a sad one because he tries to fit in a world that doesn't understand or like him.

Well, it's like the Dude said. "You're not wrong, you're just an asshole."

What exactly does it lack in depth? If you read this thread you'd see multiple people give what they took from it, it's clearly thought provoking. When does something in your eyes qualify as 'having depth'? Isn't it ironic that your comment is what's actually pretentious?

Wait why am I replying to bait

Oh great. Now I get to think about the cat every time I go to my movie shelf.