1032 artistic resonance
“"Drunk Country Folk", this is a very poetic name.
But in fact, this is a derivative interpretation of the Chinese translation. The original English name of the film is "Inside-Llewyn-Davis". As the Coen brothers said, the title comes from Dave Fan -an album by punk.
Compared to the original English name, Renly prefers the Chinese translation, which brings with it the sadness and casualness of a frustrated and wandering person..
The story of the movie takes place in New York in the 1960s. The male protagonist is called Llewyn Davis. He is a little-known folk singer. He lives in poverty, is homeless, and does not even have a regular job. He has to perform every night. He can't settle down without relying on the help of his friends. Although he is in deep trouble, the stubborn LeVine refuses to make compromises in order to conform to public preferences, which makes his life more difficult. Chasing the dream road of folk music, he will always look forward to it. Not the end.
After the film directed by the Coen brothers was officially released, it received completely different responses..
Film critics ushered in a frenzy of praise. Not only did it receive a high rating of 93% from the media review, but it also won the 2013 award from three authoritative professional media including "Film Review", "New York Times" and "Village Voice". The title of the best movie of the year also appears frequently on the annual top ten lists of other professional magazines..
Audiences generally don't buy it. They think this movie is not good enough. It is not only inferior to classics such as "Fargo" and "No Country for Old Men", but it is even inferior to the Coen brothers' previous film "True Grit". It performed mediocrely on several levels, from box office to word-of-mouth. Even the IMDB score was only 7.5 points..
In fact, it is not difficult to understand.
“"The Ballad of the Drunken Country" is not a typical American movie, but more like a European movie. The work does not tell a complete story: there is no cause, no result, or even plot advancement. Instead, it is told in a reincarnation way. a state, a wave and an era.
The entire movie just captures a fragment of LeVine's life, tells the trivial things he experienced in four or five days, and shows his current situation, nothing more..
The beginning and end are almost the same scene, linked together by LeVine's live performance in the small bar. The lines and plot are almost exactly the same, without much change, except for a slight change in the camera angle; the story has no continuity, and the character has no growth and epiphany. , even the core idea has not been sublimated and refined, and it vividly explains the meaning of "shooting means not shooting".
More importantly, LeVine is a loser. This is not an inspirational story, nor a story of a dreamer, but a story of a loser who remains a loser after going round and round. At the beginning of the story, it is difficult to see to hope; at the end, it is still the same.
In Europe, such films are very common. They tell a state of life, reflect the general environment of society, and leave space for philosophical speculation to the audience to slowly savor. However, in the United States, such artistic films are high-key and low-key, and it is difficult to win the response of the audience. .The difference in artistic heritage and connotation between the two lands can be seen from this..
The subsequent Oscars also proved this. The Coen brothers, who were nominated for best picture three times in four years with "No Country for Old Men", "A Serious Man" and "True Grit", have become the darlings of the Academy; "But it only received two nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound Effects, and was not even nominated for Best Original Score and Best Original Song. It was completely ignored..
Of course, objectively speaking, compared to the profound social reality reflected in several other works of the Coen brothers, this work does seem too childish; but as far as Renly is concerned, this is his favorite Coen. brother.
Greenwich Village in the 1960s has now become a legendary history. Countless music fans talk about it and discuss every move that happened here. It promoted the progress of history and laid the footnotes of history; but at that time, , but it was the arduous journey of a whole generation of people to find themselves, discover themselves, and strengthen themselves. There was no glamor, no dreamy bubbles, everything was cold and gloomy..
Under the call of the entire era, countless people have devoted themselves to the torrent of folk songs. As Ethan just said, "It doesn't matter who you are. What matters is that you are a part of this folk song wave." But the problem is The thing is, there may be only one successful person among a million people, and all the rest are struggling in poverty, with no future or hope..
Everybody aspires to be Bob Dylan, but there’s only one Bob Dylan.
So, everyone is faced with a choice, persist, change, or give up? This is true now, and it was true before. Time flies, and the contradiction between dreams and reality has never changed..
In the story of "The Ballad of Drunkenness", there are several characters like this. Jim played by Justin Timberlake, Jane played by Carey Mulligan, and LeVine played by Oscar-Isaac.
The three of them are all folk singers, and they are also friends with each other. They are also all small characters floating up and down in the wave of the times in Greenwich Village..
Jim is a warm-hearted and kind-hearted man. After struggling to pursue his dream to no avail, he chose to compromise and began to sing some clichéd commercial advertising songs. He also began to compose some saliva songs in line with social trends. This was not what the dream originally looked like, but it made him happy. He has established a firm foothold in society and has a relatively stable life..
Jane is a woman who grew up under the hippie culture. She has a relatively open attitude towards "sex" and has no baggage. For her, music is just an interest. When her interest could not sustain her life, she made her own way. The choice - to be with Jim, life gradually stabilized.
And LeVine is the only stubborn guy.
Jim chose to change, Jane chose to give up, and LeVine chose to persevere. Different choices guided their destiny to different paths..
Hidden in these three characters are the Coen brothers’ reflections on dreams, art, and even the entire industry and the entire era. Among these three characters, the Coen brothers chose LeVine as the protagonist. All eyes are focused on this perseverant loser. In the form of a circular structure, it shows the state of being trapped between dreams and reality, sad and lost..
This state is beyond the understanding and comprehension of the audience, but it is exactly what the Coen brothers hope to express and present..
One is that dreamers are trapped in an inexplicable lonely place where they can neither move forward nor retreat. They are like being exiled, living in isolation and at a loss. They can't see the future, but they are unwilling to give up. They just rely on the deepest feelings in their hearts. A passion, persistent and stupid, ran rampant in this lonely land, hitting his head and bleeding..
The second is the era of innocence that passed away. Those talented, young and impulsive artists are now gradually submerged in the torrent of the era of profit first and entertainment to death. They lose themselves and silently give up their favorite careers; that new generation emerges in large numbers. , Greenwich Village, full of art, is gradually submerged in the high-rise buildings and busy traffic of Manhattan..
For most viewers, this seems to be an unnecessary film. No one cares about the story of the underdog. No one remembers the years of the folk song era. No one cares about the struggle of the dreamer. The Coen brothers struggled to capture that This state, in the fast food culture and the Internet age, has become superficial and exaggerated. No one cares about it and no one understands it..
But not so for Renly.
“Le'Veon Davis of "Drunken Country Folk" is just like the old Frank in the unknown bar..
Next to the cemetery where Heather Cross was sleeping, in the unknown bar, the old Frank who sang "Cleopatra" in a low voice, the old Frank who never tired of performing even for free, the old Frank who was in reality Old Frank gave up on his dream under heavy pressure but persisted in his own way.
From any perspective of social reality, Old Frank, like LeVine, is a loser, a complete loser, and may even become the object of ridicule and ridicule by others, and may also become a negative teaching material for parents to educate their children; but In the dead of night, when they are alone, the flame of dreams deep in their hearts is still burning brightly, but it illuminates their lives..
This is a story about persistence, dreams, and life. This is a story about George Strand and Heather Cross. It is also a story about Chu Jiashu and Renly Hall..
This was true when I was trapped in a hospital bed for the rest of my life in my previous life; this was true when I came to New York alone to pursue my dream of being an actor; this was true during the creation and production process of the album "Don Quixote"; Heather -The same was true when Cross stopped before the threshold of his dream..
On the road of dreams, it is not difficult to give up. Everyone can choose to give up. Just let go of your hands and your dreams will fly into the sky quickly like a hydrogen balloon and disappear in the blink of an eye. Change is somewhat difficult, but as long as you persist After the struggle of compromise and bowing, everything will become logical, and then you can comfort yourself. This is the case for most people in society..
It is always easy to choose the Sunshine Avenue, choose the mainstream of society, and choose to go with the flow. Hidden in the vast sea of people, there is no need to think, no need to fight, no need to struggle, just follow the context of predecessors and waves, and move forward blindly. Okay, that's enough. Under the huge social machine, everyone gradually loses their edges and becomes the same..
Choosing to stick to themselves, choosing to chase freedom, choosing to stay sharp requires courage and even more perseverance. Because they have no reference object, they must explore by themselves and find their own path, a unique path..
In the story of "The Ballad of Drunken Country", Renly can glimpse his own shadow and his own story in Llewyn Davis..
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