Inside Llewyn Davis
is probably the most depressing movie I've ever seen.
I don't usually go for depressing movies. I saw Schindler's List, but that's at least got Schindler trying to save people. Life is Beautiful was light at times, but god, the ending. As endings go, Ethan Frome has it beat. And lets not even talk about addiction movies. The one scene of Requiem for a Dream I've seen (if you're
wondering, its the one with Jennifer Connelly and another woman entertaining a
circle of yelling men) was dark enough I didn't want to go back and watch the rest.
Inside Llewyn Davis isn't
depressing like those movies. There's no big villain, like the Nazis, killing innocents, no
addictions, no accidents of fate. There are just the everyday blues. But unlike
everyday life, there's no hint of sunshine, literally and figuratively (the
movie takes place in New York City in the winter). The literal lack of sunshine
didn't bother me so much as the complete lack of anything good in this movie.
Maybe good isn't the right word. The acting is good. The
music is sublime. More impressive, all the music was recorded live; Oscar Isaac
really is that talented (and is also now one of my many celebrity husbands). The
cinematography is lovely and gray. There's a cat. A couple of them, actually. And there are funny moments. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times. But the story itself is unrelentingly sad. Llewyn is
undeniably talented, but its like he really is the Midas of shit (as Carry
Mulligan's character tells him). Nothing, abolsutely nothing goes right for him. He reacts like anyone might in the face
of such a hostile universe: with hostility right back. And so the cycle of shit
continues. For two hours.
The only light is the music, but its not doing what's its
supposed to do for Llewyn, which is make him money. And so eventually, even
that sours. That's what makes this movie so depressing, I think. Llewyn isn't
willing to compromise his musical integrity and he's so talented that he
shouldn't have to. But that's not how the real world works and its certainly
not how the world in the movie works.
What really bothered me just how often negative shit
seemed to happen. And only negative
shit. When the end of the movie rolled around, it was like "that's it?
Coen brothers, you're just going to show me two hours of unhappiness, and
that's it? WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THAT?" Don't get me wrong, I get that not
everything is unicorns and rainbows and puppies and shit. But there just wasn't
any point to this negative shit, there wasn't any story. Llewyn ends up exactly
where he started, only with a lot of depressing shit in between. And sorry,
that just isn't very compelling. I'm a little tired of the "life is shit,
doesn't that suck?" story. Try a little harder.
Please, if you really liked Inside Llewyn Davis for the story and not the gorgeous music,
lovely cinematography, or general design of the movie, tell me why. Because as
of right now, its the most depressing movie I've ever seen.
