My first movie that I saw today was O' Brother Where Art Thou
I really liked this movie. It was done by the Coen brother's who are quite frankly a bit off the wall. It's supposed to be based on Homer's The Odyssey, and although I would like to admit that I could tell from reading that book - I never had, but as it happens, neither had to Coen brothers! What I could gather though just from hearing about the Odyssey, there were characters in the movie with relation to the book. For example, George Clooney's character's name was Ulysses, there was a bible salesman (John Goodman) with a patch on one eye - like a Cyclops, there were 3 singing seductive women - like the sirens, and I'm sure many other references that I wasn't able to catch (maybe I'm wrong, but I think for each of their outdoor fireside scenes they are sitting in Roman ruins).
There were two things for me that really stood out in this film. One of them I wasn't even aware of the first time I saw this film, until we saw the short clip about it in the extra's section of the DVD today. It talked about how this film was put through a digital process to change the colour of the scenes and do other special effects that hadn't been done before in film. Rather than use filters and chemicals in processing, they stressed that the movie was shoot 'clean' and then played with post-production. They made the colours de-saturated to create the atmosphere of olden days during the depression times, and the heat of the summer down South.
The other thing that impressed me was the script. It was so intelligent. Especially George Clooney's character. He had the 'gift for gab' for sure. I really had to pay attention to what he was saying to catch all the subtleties of humour at times.
This movie incorporated many different styles, and techniques from movies past, and then re-created it's own unique work. It's definitely worth seeing more than once.
Hi, Kate. Thought I'd comment on your movie review of "O Brother, Where Art Thou". I'd seen this movie a few years back, or at least parts of it, and thought it was pretty bizarre! I didn't know anything about the plot or the basis of the movie, but I remember being impressed with George Clooney and the depth of his dialogue, considering there seemed to be a lot of deadpan comedy liberally sprinkled throughout the scenes. It also seemed a little dream-like, the way they were coming across these unbelievable situations in the middle of nowhere. Being on the run, seemed to allow the director to take his characters into whatever scene or circumstances he wanted. You almost have to accept that you'll be going on quite the ride, so settle in and just go with it.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your critique, I think I'll rent it again and take a closer look. Thanks. Chris.
Didn't you just love the color and the 'olden days' feel they gave to the movie?? I don't think it would have been as good as a movie without that look. It really made the colors pop!
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