Inside Llewyn Davis

When I was 16 I was passed a (then rare) bootleg of Bob Dylan performing at the Gaslight Cafe in 1961, months before he cut his first album. One track on this bootleg stood out amongst the others. Dink's Song is a haunting ballad about a women jilted by her lover and was originally recorded in the 1900's by a women called, unsurprisingly, Dink. No versions of this recording remain today but come the 60's folk revival it was picked up by almost everyone of note. The name for the song was changed for different artists some going with the chorus line and calling it 'Fare Thee Well' whilst others went with the memorable opening line 'If I had Wings'. Though it's Dylan's cover which he entitled 'Dink's Song' that seems to have had the biggest effect with Pete Seeger, Jeff Buckley, Dave Van Ronk and Marcus Mumford all retaining the original title. In it's simplicity it inspired my to take up playing guitar and I still play it today. Which is way I was happy to hear it feature so prominently in Inside Llewyn Davis.
The film explores the life of a struggling self destructive musician (Llewyn) in New York's Greenwich Village in 1961. Llewyn goes from sofa to sofa as a means of living and finds no direction anywhere he looks. This is depicted in a way that the Coen Brothers seem to very good at.

*Spoilers Ahead*
The Film
The entirety of Inside Llewyn Davis is shot in 4:3 with a steel filter. In the context of the film I think this works well and couldn't imagine the subject matter being approached in clear HD 16:9 format. The formatting somehow suits the music better despite have no baring on the sound quality.
There are times when you see the mic in the top of the image as well. This made be a nod to old films where this happens, and as this is the Coen Brothers directing I probably guess it was but it seems unclear and clumsy to me rather than a tribute.
The plot itself rambles through a week in Llewyn Davis' life focusing on his lost direction and frustration at the world not going his way. Early on we discover that he once had a musical partner who has passed away and since then Llewyn has been picking up the piece's of life and surviving on scraps. He bounces from one character to the next all who seem to see an inherent goodness in him that makes it hard for them to turn him away no matter how harsh he's been to them.
The acting doesn't miss a beat and the awkward almost Pinteresque pauses are filled by every actor in a great way. Though a cat does threaten to upstage everyone else at times.
Oscar Issac's acting of a complex title role is great to watch. He shows the characters directionless pessimism in a light that verges on the comedic at times but is also somehow tragic. Llewyn's answer to everything seems to be music and this shines through in Issac's portrayal. 
The scene's between him and Carey Mulligan are well executed with anger sizzling between them but also a strange current of tenderness.
Justin Timberlake does well in a role that could maybe have been bigger to show that he wasn't just there to sing. He only really has two scene's. In one his character really helps Llewyn but then disappears into nothing for the rest of the film.
John Goodman again proves how good a character actor he is in his portrayal of an aging drugged up Jazz artists. He embraces the role and you can completely forget it's him.
The only thing I will say about the plot is that no one in the film seems to have a job beyond the music. Just a little strange.
All things said and done the one scene that will stay with me is a scene with the cat staring out a subway train window watching the stations pass.

The Music
When the Coen Brothers made 'O Brother Where Art Thou' they drafted in T Bone Burnett (famed for working with pretty much everyone in the 60's) and they produced a phenomenal soundtrack for the film. T Bone comes back into the Coen Brothers fold with this film and doesn't disappoint. Issac, Mulligan and Timberlake all play full songs in the context of the film and it's hard to turn away from these performances such is the song selection and arrangement.
A lot of the music takes place in New York's Gaslight Cafe which adds nicely to the feel of the film and puts the events into context.
Marcus Mumford also makes a small vocal appearance at the start of the film. Singing as Llewyn's dead partner.
The film ends with an original Bob Dylan bootleg recording from the Gaslight Cafe in 1961 and a glimpse of him on stage.

Inside Llewyn Davis to me feels like a biopic of the New York folk revive in all it's guises. The fact that the end is the same as the beginning fits wonderfully in with the genre as so many lyrics from the time talk about futility and hopeless situations. If you listen to the Dylan track 'Eternal Circles' you'll see how close the spirit of this film is to the spirit of that song.
To me Llewyn Davis himself seems to personify the Greenwich folk revival in it's early stages. Struggling to get noticed above the noise of nearby Tin Pan Alley before the scene exploded into the charts. I say all this as an outsider looking into a scene some 50 years passed and in a bias way only a fan can but I think it goes without that I enjoyed the film.