Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) is a diabolical and depressing cinematic masterpiece written, directed, and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. I think this film's primary aesthetic school is formalism, and I will make the argument based on its narrative design and formal design perspectives.
First and foremost, I think Inside Llewyn Davis is a thematically designed narrative. The primary intention is about failure; the dying of romanticism is an endless cycle with unending hurt; however, it is also a necessary and integral part of our life in today's unfair world. This is a recurring theme that keeps showing over and over again, as Llewyn keeps getting beaten up by his life: losing his friends' cat; getting Jean accidentally pregnant and has to pay for the abortion; getting late payment from music recording; being rejected from audition; losing his seaman's license, and eventually getting beaten up by a strange man for having misappropriated behavior to his wife. It became a form of clarity that this cycle of failures is inescapable like fate every time Llewyn tries to get his big break in folk singing. Llewyn got beaten up literally and figuratively after each of his musical performances in the film. Furthermore, it somehow reminds me of Buddhism's beliefs: it is the desire lies at the root of suffering; however, by accepting suffering as part of life, to be expected, and that if a person experiences pain calmly, he or she can attain greater without becoming emotionally distressed. Those are the feelings that I think was genuinely captured and contextualized greatly by Coen Brothers for Inside Llewyn Davis.
Another determining factor for its scrupulous formalism is the unorthodox non-linear narrative structure. During my first time viewing, I almost believed this film was a realist film, as time flows seamlessly, followed by the standard coverage without any long takes. The moment I realized the distinct feature of formalism starts at the final sequence: in which there is an unexpected shift back to the beginning of the film, when Llewyn again singing "Hang Me, Oh Hang Me" at the club before being beaten up by the cowboy in the alley behind it, and it formed a circular narrative structure. Why did Coen Brother present it in this way? I think it shows the significance of Llewyn's life as a closed loop of opportunities missed and bad choices repeated, just like a hamster wheel on which he has chosen to run.
Meanwhile, the film does not follow the traditional three-act structure, a trademark for realist films. This non-linear circular structure is the distinguishing quality in the formalist school. Only the formalist will put the audience in a subjective position to have a deeper reflection, like looking into a mirror.
From the perspective of point of view, Inside Llewyn Davis has a unified point of view. The film takes place entirely from Llewyn's viewpoint as he refuses to proactively confront his fears, which become increasingly prominent as the film moves tonally into something darker. His character's ultimate conflict is that he feels he is worthless without his art and gets frustrated with the notion of calling quits, despite his art ironically alienating him from having a meaningful relationship with the rest of the world. It was designed in this way so that the audience can experience Llewyn's unique world, a starving artist who keeps disappointing other people and always make the wrong judgments. This unified point of view is the formalist idea to have an experiential journey of not so much of what happens, but focus on what the audience could feel.
In terms of the character design, Llewyn is such a complex three-dimensional character. Being the protagonist in a Coen Brother film, protagonists are their own antagonists. Llewyn is an artist, perhaps ahead of his time, who is stuck in a cycle of poor choices. Meanwhile, he is also an asshole, just like what Jean has been yelled at him over and over again every time they met each other. He has a terrible manner who picks up the fight with Mrs. Gorfein, who helped him before, although later, we find out he has an unresolved issue from his dead partner Mike. Not only is he trapped in a cycle of misery, but also he has been reminded constantly with the question, "What are you doing?" Unfortunately, he neither has the answer nor the will to achieve the answer.
However, here comes the genius part of the Coens. With such a depressing character, I develop both love and hate for this character as an audience. Speaking from my own experiences, my understanding of Llewyn's character is completely justifiable. He feels intensely impatient because he could not get the recognition and accomplishment he deserves, and he is going nowhere despite the fact that he keeps trying. It is an honest and rational response to his situation, and he naturally reacts to it. I have my failures, and I witnessed a friend who failed big time. From the way I look at it, it is understandably, decently, and sympathetically presented.
As for the genre, I think Inside Llewyn Davis is a hybrid genre among musical, biopic, and dark comedy. This is something the Coen Brothers always do: to have an unclear genre. The character Llewyn Davis is fictional, but the story was partly inspired by folk singer Dave Van Ronk's autobiography, an album called "Inside Dave Van Ronk," with an album cover art remarkably similar to the album cover of "Inside Llewyn Davis." A mixed genre is something formalist always plays with; it makes the ending unpredictable, entirely out of surprise. While realist tends to approach the biopic genre with chronicle order in a linear treatment, this film was told in a non-linear and circular structure, which is precisely the intension of the formalists to remind the audience that they are watching a film.
For the viewing experience, I stayed quite active most of the time, this is also a hint to suggest this film is a formalist school. I was exceptionally awakened when there was a cat in the frame, and it is peculiar that the cat plays a significant role in this film. Why would the Coens do that? After a while, with the clue from the confusing phone call, which says: "Llewyn is the cat,” I started to figure out that the cat acts as an extension of Llewyn Davis, Like the cat, Llewyn is lost, homeless, and continuously tries to hold on to life. The cat's name is Ulysses, Ulysses is the Roman name of Odysseus, and the hero of Homer's Odyssey, which is essentially about a man who gets lost away from home and has to find his way back. Ironically Llewyn finds out the cat he has been carrying around is not even Ulysses, which is inauthentic, just like what Bud Grossman told him after the audition, "I don't see a lot of money here" in an unimpressed tone, abandoned by society.
From the formal design perspective, one thing that struck me the most as a formalist film is the cinematography. I could not help to notice the extensive use of single shots in this film. My observation is based on a gradual change in increasing numbers of single shots throughout the film. The idea of a single shot is usually suggesting an isolated relationship of the character comparing to other shot types like a dirty shot or over-the-shoulder shot. During the first half of the film, I can see some group shots and two shots when Llewyn talks to his friends. It slowly changed during the road trip scene, and after the almost surreal midnight drive scene to New York, the single shot becomes a dominating shot type. It suggests Llewyn is getting isolated further and further as he is trapped in the cycle of unending hurt.
The treatment for using the gradual change of single shots to suggest Llewyn's shrinking and lonely world is one of the elements to keep me active during the viewing experience. Another formal design element that is prominent is the color orchestration. Inside Llewyn Davis has a unique pictorial texture: skin glows with a smooth sheen, with desaturated colors and an extended range of grays. Coen Brother is notoriously famous for working with Roger Deakins as their cinematographer. However, in the case of Inside Llewyn Davis, it is the first time the French cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel worked with them. Delbonnel is best known for Amélie and A Very Long Engagement and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The way he executed the image in this way is to suggest a lifeless and cold world from Llewyn Davis, who has a self-destructive nature, adding strong emotions to the experiential journey for the audience to feel.
Generally speaking, the formal design elements in Inside Llewyn Davis is less active during the viewing by comparing it to the narrative design elements. I am much more attracted to the character of Llewyn Davis; the cycle of suffering is much more relatable to me, as I have experienced the pain in real life. There is a close female friend of mine who we went to high school together, and now she lost in an investment and put her family into a million-dollar debt trap. After she was diagnosed with cancer a year ago, her world just went dark and there is nothing I can do. This film instantly reminds me of her story. How should we handle the failure? And just like what Coen Brother suggested in this film, it is an endless cycle that we have to accept to be part of our life.
