Great Character: Llewyn Davis (“Inside Llewyn Davis”)
The Great Character theme for the month: Struggling Artist. Today: Llewyn Davis from the 2013 movie Inside Llewyn Davis, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Here is Jason Cuthbert’s weekly Great Character post.
Soaked in the saturated earth tone glow of rusty orange and army olive greens, the Coen Brothers reimagined the 1960s Greenwich Village folk scene that birthed Bob Dylan and Joan Baez with their own forlorn fictional folk singer — Llewyn Davis. The 2013 Academy Award nominated Inside Llewyn Davis condenses a week of early urban bohemia through the “disad-vantage point” of a musical front man being pushed to the back of center stage with each passing day. Elements and incidents inside Inside Llewyn Davis were inspired by the story of real life folk revival man Dave Van Ronk, “The Mayor of Macdougal Street,” and other music industry players and constellations in that 1960s orbit.
All of these interwoven factual fabrics are sharply stitched into the Coen Brother’s imagined retro New York Sixties. We receive an authentic observation of the classic struggling artist in a whiplashing tug-of-war with artistic integrity and financial stability — with zero compromise as the judge and jury.
Inside Llewyn Davis plot summary from IMDB:
A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.
Llewyn Davis is introduced to us in the location of his vocation — performing in front of a nightclub crowd for meager earnings. But with the murky message of his first acoustic tune defined as being ready to die, more specifically hung, we quickly realize that Llewyn is not Mr. Feel-Good Pop Star.
LLEWYN DAVIS: If it was never new, and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song.
His own stubborn self-image and the kindness of Downtown musicians and Uptown academics are all that’s keeping the lights on in his temporary habitats. Davis craves the creation of a world around him where music makes everything right. Unfortunately, his friends are more like supporters. Their own obligations and priorities could permanently overshadow their generosity to Llewyn at any given moment.
Before Llewyn Davis’s current fools gold-selling solo album, also titled “Inside Llewyn Davis,” he was in a duo with a partner Mike Timlin who left the group, and the land of the living, in a majorly morbid fashion.
LLEWYN DAVIS: I had a partner… he threw himself off the George Washington Bridge.
Having his career controlled by an out-of-touch elderly couple makes for an ever more sketchy prospect for success in the changing tides of 1960s songwriting. Now being forced to fill the entire spotlight himself without his other half to help carry the burden: Llewyn feels like he is Llew-Lost.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOxszMliIyA
Armed with a guitar and a tweed jacket that the winter winds reduce to the feeling of a tank top in January, Llewyn is a man without a plan or an address.
LLEWYN DAVIS: The future? You mean like flying cars? Hotels on the moon? Tang?
Fellow musicians Jim Berkey (Justin Timberlake) and Jean Berkey (Carey Mulligan) are the owners of one such couch that Llewyn Davis calls his home from time to time, and time again. Unfortunately, Jim and Jean are romantically serious and Llewyn may or may not have gotten Jean pregnant behind Jim’s back. This leads to Llewyn having to wrangle up a lump sum of cash to finance his second abortion in recent memory.
LLEWYN DAVIS: Well, I could say we should talk about this when you’re less angry, but that would be… that would be… when would that be?
After getting a one-day Columbia Records recording gig thanks to Jim co-signing him, Llewyn has $200 but no royalties for a novelty record that he clearly feels creatively sick to his stomach to have to make concessions and record.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WCRAuIcjsc
Llewyn may not have been a super fan of the comically obnoxious vocal adlibs from session player Al Cody (Adam Driver), but he definitely found himself comfortable with the idea of having a new couch to crash on.
The more common domain for slumber when Llewyn Davis is in between quick melancholy concerts and chasing invisible money is that of the sweet, supportive and financially secure middle-aged couple Mitch Gorfein (Ethan Philips) and Lillian Gorfein (Robin Bartlett). Between Llewyn losing their cat Ulysses and ruining their dinner party with rash remarks rippling from the emotional wounds from Llewyn’s relentless losing streak, that upscale coach gets put in jeopardy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gz2BJRYKzA
LLEWYN DAVIS: I do this for a living. It’s not a, not a fucking parlor game.
We love Llewyn’s drive but we fear that his threshold for pain may have already been crossed beyond the point of no return. How heartbreaking is it to see Uncle Llewyn wake up in the elementary school kiddie bedroom of his single digit-aged nephew? How excruciating is it to see Mr. Davis car pool with complete strangers to and from Chicago for an audition that ends with the gatekeeper Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham) saying: “I don’t see a lot of money here.” Then after all that, how gut-wrenching is it to watch Llewyn Davis The Artist momentarily throw in the towel and attempt to resume his merchant marine position, only to be unable to…after spending his last to pay off his back dues?
LLEWYN DAVIS: I’m tired. I thought I just needed a night’s sleep but it’s more than that.
For his resilient survival instincts, his shoulders not collapsing under the distress of reoccurring constant disappointment and his dedication to his artistic core — Llewyn Davis is definitely one fascinating GREAT CHARACTER and a symbol of the artisan struggle.
This is one of my favorite Coen brothers movie. Perhaps because I played music professionally for 7 years, but I can resonate with Llewyn’s conundrum. He has talent. But he’s no Bob Dylan. So then what? I’ve known so many musicians in the same boat. This movie is an unrelenting look at the death of a dream.
Thank you, Jason, for this post and the entire month-long series featuring Struggling Artist characters.
You may follow Jason on Twitter: @A2Jason.