Inside Llewyn Davis Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Inside Llewyn Davis Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 24, 2016

Winner of the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival, Joel and Ethan Coen's "Inside Llewyn Davis" (2013) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film; new filmed conversation with director Guillermo del Toro and the Coens; the concert film "Another Day, Another Time" (2013); audio commentary featuring authors Robert Christgau, David Hajdu, and Sean Wilentz; new video piece featuring executive producer T Bone Burnett and the Coens; and more. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones. In English, with optional English SDH subtitle for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"I'll be dead and gone. Wouldn't mind the hangin'. But the layin' in the grave's so long. Poor boy, I been all around this world..."

The world he is stuck in looks like a terrible nightmare. We want to believe that it is a nightmare because we know that if it is eventually it will end and he will be forced out of it. But the more time we spend with Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac, Drive), the more we begin to doubt that it is. Could it be that he truly is the ultimate loser?

Llewyn is in New York City and is struggling to make ends meet as a folk singer. He is good, really good, but most of the people around him think that he has gone down the wrong path and wasted his time. Some, like his married sister, are not afraid to say it in his face. Llewyn has no place to call home and does not have any money. Even worse, he owes a lot of money and is always looking to borrow more. How can anyone live like this? Llewyn’s agent (Jerry Grayson, Striptease) has been a bit more delicate after the tragic death of his partner, but even he has raised a white flag because Llewyn’s record isn’t selling. It does not matter if Llewyn is talented because as a solo act he simply isn’t good enough for the market. The market needs singers that can sell, not necessarily singers that can sing.

And this isn’t all. Jean Berkey (Carey Mulligan, An Education), a fellow folk singer, has told Llewyn that she is pregnant and that the thing that is growing in her belly is his. It is possible that it isn’t, but everything Llewyn touches turns to shit, so it has to be his. Now Llewyn has to pay for her abortion, but he does not even have money to buy himself a new coat.

Feeling utterly depressed but determined to prove that he has what it takes to be a successful singer, Llewyn decides to travel to Chicago and audition for a local impresario (F. Murray Abraham, Amadeus) who runs a popular club. But along the way a wacky jazz musician (John Goodman, The Big Lebowski) and then fate force him to reconsider his desperate plan.

As it is always the case with the Coens’ films, Inside Llewyn Davis mixes a large dose of eccentricity and a fair dose of good storytelling. Whether the end result works as well as intended depends largely on our tolerance for the former.

The film is set in the early 1960s and there are a lot of nice American folk tunes in it, but the scene that Llewyn belongs to is largely ignored. There are other singers that emerge from the shadows but then quickly disappear without a trace. We only catch a whiff of the same desire to remain authentic that is apparently giving Llewyn the strength to believe that sooner or later someone will appreciate his talent.

The Coen-esque wackiness allows us to see Llewyn’s misery from a different angle and find some humor in it, but it is not always easy to laugh. When he gets a dose of his own medicine it does feel good to see him suffer a bit, but most of the time it looks like he is punished for mistakes he has made in a previous life. As a result, after a while it just gets tiring watching this young man repeatedly being told that he is worthless.

The cinematography is quite unusual. There is a very limited range of desaturated grays, light browns, and blacks, and the daylight footage looks like it was shot with a filter to make it look as cold and depressing as possible. The Coens worked with cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, who is probably best known for his work on the equally atmospheric French hits Amélie and A Very Long Engagement.

Inside Llewyn Davis Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Joel and Ethan Coen's Inside Llewyn Davis arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided this Blu-ray release:

"Approved by directors Joel and Ethan Coen, this digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Spirit 4K film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative at Technicolor PostWorks in New York. This film features a fully digital soundtrack. The 5.1 surround audio for this release was mastered at 24-bit from the original digital audio master files using Pro Tools HD.

Colorist: Peter Doyle/Tehnicolor PostWorks, New York."

The film has a very specific period look that favors a limited range of desaturated grays, light browns, and blacks. Light is also manipulated to lower contrast but keep depth as pleasing as possible. As a result, some of the indoor/darker footage has an unusual dynamic range -- shadow definition and even entire color tonalities are impacted. Clarity can fluctuate a bit, but the fluctuations are a byproduct of the described adjustments. Image stability is excellent. Finally, there are no purely technical anomalies to report in our review. All in all, this is an excellent presentation of Inside Llewyn Davis which makes it exceptionally easy to appreciate the artistic vision of its creators. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Inside Llewyn Davis Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The strength of the lossless track is in the various nuances and the excellent separation of seemingly random sounds and noises. Dynamic intensity is rather modest, but the film's original design is hardly impressive. During the different performances depth and clarity are excellent. The dialog is crisp, stable, and always very easy to follow. There are no audio dropouts, pops, or digital distortions to report in our review.

Inside Llewyn Davis Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailers - presented here are six original trailers for Inside Llewyn Davis. In English, not subtitled.

• Inside "Inside Llewyn Davis" - this documentary takes a closer look at the production history of Inside Llewyn Davis as well as the story of folk singer Dave Van Ronk, who was the model for the main protagonist in the film. Included in the documentary are clips from interviews with the Coens, executive music producer T Bone Burnett, writer Elijah Wald (co-author of The Mayor of MacDougal Street), costume designer Mary Zophres, Oscar Isaac, John Goodman, and Stark Sands (Troy Nelson), amongst others. The documentary was produced and directed by David Prior. In English, not subtitled. (43 min, 1080p).

• The First Hundred Feet, The Last Hundred Feet - in this brand new filmed conversation, director Guillermo del Toro and writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen discuss the impact four classic films had on the evolution of their style (the films are Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Third Man, The Conformist, Mad Max), some of the unique qualities of their early characters, the important relationship between the landscape of the time and the place and the characters in their films, Llewyn Davis and his journey, the ridiculousness of the culture that is depicted in their latest film, etc. The conversation was filmed exclusively for Criterion in the fall of 2015. In English, not subtitled. (41 min, 1080p).

• Another Day, Another Time - this concert film, which was inspired by the music of Inside Llewyn Davis, was shot at New York's Town Hall in September 2013. It was produced by T Bone Burnett. In English, not subtitled. (102 min, 1080p/Audio 5.1).
  
  1. Keep it Clean
  2. America's campfire
  3. Gillian Welch: "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?"
  4. "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" in the studio
  5. "Dave Rawlings Machine
  6. Colin Meloy's patriotic folk
  7. The Avett Brothers' celebratory South
  8. "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad" backstage with the Avett Brothers
  9. Rhiannon Giddens: Folk meets Celtic
  10. "Did You Hear John Hurt?"
  11. Oscar Isaac: Green, Green Rocky Road"
  12. Punch Brothers: "Rye Whiskey"
  13. Harmonies with the Milk Carton Kids
  14. Lake Street Dive: "You Go Down Smooth"
  15. Backstage with Willie Watson
  16. Patti Smith: Folk meets punk
  17. "The Auld Triangle"
  18. Marcus Mumford and Joan Baez: Give Me Cornbread When I'm Hungry"
  19. Marcus Mumford: "I Was Young When I left Home"
  20. Punch Brothers, Marcus Mumford, and Oscar Isaac: "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)"
  21. "Fare Thee Well (Dink's Song)" studio take
  22. "Moonshiner" with Chris Thile/Musician credits

• Commentary - this new and very informative audio commentary features authors Robert Christgau (Going into the City), David Hajdu (Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina, and Richard Farina), and Sean Wilentz (Bob Dylan in America). The bulk of the information that is provided in it addresses the history of the various songs (including different versions) that are heard in the film and the singers that performed them during the years, the image of folk singer Dave Van Ronk, the social trends during the era in which the film is set, the competition between the different labels that signed folk singers, and key events from the film and how they resemble (or not) different events from Dave Van Ronk's life. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Criterion in September 2015.

• The Way of Folk - in this brand new featurette, executive producer T Bone Burnett and the Coen brothers discuss the history of some of the songs that heard in Inside Llywin Davies and possible origin of the stories they tells, the folk movement during the 1960s and the social and cultural ideas that it represented, the authenticity and the identity of folk music and the balance between the two, the future of folk music, etc. Included with the featurette are illustrations by Drew Christie. The featurette was created exclusively for Criterion in 2015. In English, not subtitled. (16 min, 1080p).

• Before the Flood - in this video interview, Elijah Wald, who collaborated with folksinger Dave Van Ronk on his memoir, The Mayor of MacDougal Street, the identity of the folk scene in New York City during the time in which Inside Llewyn Davis takes place, the people that made music and were part of the scene, the change that occurred after the arrival of Bob Dylan, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2014. In English, not subtitled. (20 min, 1080p).

• Sunday (1961) - presented here is an archival documentary by Dan Drasin that chronicles a protest rally at the fountain in New York's Washington Square on April 9, 1961. During the rally, folk musicians and the police clashed after the musicians were denied the right to continue organizing their traditional meetings there and performing their favorite songs. In English, not subtitled. (18 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic Kent Jones.

Inside Llewyn Davis Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Inside Llewyn Davis works better as yet another quirky piece from the Coens than as a period picture that offers an authentic glimpse at the folk scene and the culture that supported it in New York City prior to the arrival of Bob Dylan. Naturally, whether you like the film will depend largely on your ability to tolerate the Coens' eccentricity. If you are already a fan of the film, Criterion's new Blu-ray release will make you extremely happy. The film looks terrific in high-definition and the special features are amongst the best that I have seen produced for a recent release of a contemporary film. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.