Review of Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) by Michael M — 05 Jul 2014

The Coen brothers pinpoint that cold week in New York (February 1961) just before Bob Dylan re-invented the world of folk music at The Gaslight Cafe in Greenwich Village. Inspired by Dave Van Ronk's memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street (and possibly the first few chapters of Bob Dylan - Chronicles: Volume One), Llewyn Davis gives us an authentic glimpse of the traditional folk music scene right before it explodes into the hard currency of the sixties and the second half of the "American Century".

"Recorded music is to America what wine production is to France" (executive music producer T Bone Burnett, from the BRD extra feature "Inside Inside Llewyn Davis"). This film is a remarkably accurate testament to that thought.

The many layered references to the likes of Tom Paxton (Stark Sands), The Clancy Brothers (Chris Eldridge, Chris Thile, Gabe Witcher, Marcus Mumford: Punch Brothers), Jack Elliott (Adam Driver) and Albert Grossman (F. Murray Abraham) are a delight. Although the Coens have acknowledged the names Jim and Jean were borrowed from folk act Jim Glover & Jean Ray, the origins of the Justin Timberlake and Carey Mulligan characters are somewhat less clear. Could they be textured reconstructions of Ray Gooch and Chloe Kiel from Dylan's archival "Chronicles", Geoff and Maria Muldaur, a Greenwich folk duo before she shot to fame as a single act - or a combination of them all (with a teaspoon of Karen Dalton or Paul Clayton for flavor)? Even the enigmatic title character Llewyn Davis seems to be a mysterious composite of Van Ronk, Dylan, Phil Ochs and indeed the real life Oscar Isaac himself. The Coens are playing a wonderful game with us.

The film's title, itself, pays homage to Van Ronk's 1964 album "Inside Dave Van Ronk". For those who are really paying attention, there is a marvelous reference to Dylan's 1963 album cover "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" ( a la Cameron Crowe in Vanilla Sky) in one of the Chicago road-trip scenes.