The Greenwich Village Folk Scene on film

Jun 9, 2014 | Review Beat

By Jim Stewart

The Greenwich Village folk scene of the early 60s was an extremely influential period, but it has virtually been ignored by movie makers until now…

The Coen Brothers ‘INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS’ corrects that with authentically atmospheric brilliance that captures the bleakness of a harsh New York winter during which Davis, a wannabe folk singer with a self destruct button, sofa hopping, bleeds willing friends dry, with no respect or regard for anyone as he strives to achieve his goal.

OSCAR ISAAC is perfectly believable as the loser Davis, supported by a strong cast including Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, and Justin Timberlake, with the road trip to Chicago and back reminiscent of Coen’s masterpiece ‘Fargo’.

Original and new songs are blended together seamlessly, creating the best music movie I’ve seen since ‘Walk The Line’: strongly recommended.

As if to highlight both the previous cinematic ignorance, and to celebrate the music of the era, artists past and present perform songs from the early sixties, and the movie, in a special concert ‘Another Day, Another Time – inside Llewyn Davis’ (OPTBD 2714 / OPTD 2714), 100 minutes long, featuring Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Willie Watson, Gillian Welch, Dave Rawlings and The Punch Brothers, plus Oscar Isaac singing his songs from the film, arranged by T Bone Burnett. A brilliant show reminding me just how great an influence the music had on my generation.

A special edition pack featuring both discs would surely be a good seller but, either way, not to be missed.

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS STUDIO CANAL:  Blu-ray  OPTBD 2542  DVD OPTD2542

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