INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS DVD (2013)




SYNOPSIS: Inside Llewyn Davis, the new film from Academy Award-winners Joel and Ethan Coen, follows a week in the life of a young folk singer at a crossroads, struggling to make it in the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961. Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac)―guitar in tow, huddled against the unforgiving New York winter―is beset by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, some of them of his own making. Living at the mercy of both friends and strangers, scaring up what work he can find, Llewyn journeys from the baskethouses of the Village to an empty Chicago club―on a misbegotten odyssey to audition for a music mogul―and back again.

MOVIE REVIEW:

The latest feature from the award-winning filmmaking siblings is so low-key that it misses out on every single nomination at the Oscars. It’s not that Inside Llewyn Davis is a bad movie in fact it’s a pretty good and enjoyable title.

Unlike a conventional movie which normally tells a story, Inside Llewyn Davis which is inspired by the memoirs of folk singer Dave Van Ronk is much more of character study of a fictitious musician Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) as he struggles his way through the music scene in 1960’s New York.

Davis is a down-on-his luck musician hoping to make it to the big league. He has an ex-girlfriend Jean (Carey Mulligan) who just told him she is pregnant and she needs his money for an abortion. Llewyn himself is hoping his released solo album can help him make ends meet. At the same time he is still coping with the loss of his musical partner who apparently committed suicide.  

For such a cold bleak tale of one man’s survival in the music scene, it’s often funny and the drama brilliantly crafted by the Coens. The dialogue is sharp and spot-on. The stern exchanges between Jean and Llewyn are fine examples of that. Even an orange tabby cat named Ulysses brought a fair amount of cinematic magic to the entire viewing experience.

Being a small indie title doesn’t stop the Coens from attracting talents such as John Goodman (playing a drug-addicted jazz musician), Justin Timberlake (a chance for him to showcase his vocals), Garrett Hedlund (the Tron Legacy star who hardly has any dialogue in the movie) and Carey Mulligan who always impresses despite her limited screentime. Our leading man, Oscar Isaac (Sucker Punch) deserved an acting award for not just for his wonderful live singing but for his enigmatic, sterling performance.

The authenticity of that period is replicated faithfully onscreen and lastly, the incredible soundtrack produced by the renowned T-Bone Burnett, which consists of mostly folk songs, is pretty addictive and might simply turned into earworms after the credits rolled. If you have always been a Coen fan, then Inside Llewyn Davis shouldn’t disappoint.   

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

Visually, the DVD smoothly conveys the melancholic tone and dark textures and the audio always involving and clear

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee



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 ABOUT THE MOVIE

Genre: Drama/Music
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake, Ethan Phillips, Robin Bartlett, Max Casella
Director: Joel & Ethan Coen
Rating: NC-16 (Coarse Language)
Year Made: 2013
Official Website: 

 SPECIAL FEATURES

- NIL

 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Languages: English
Subtitles: English/Chinese
Aspect Ratio: 16x9
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0
Running Time: 1 hr 41 mins
Region Code: 3
Distributor: Scorpio East Entertainment