Decem ber 25, 2013
3:i?t ^Jortlanh (Observer
Beautifully Crafted
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 9
and an "early m usic" scholar. T o
som e extent, he creates his o w n bad
luck w ith arrogance, thou g h tless­
ness, and im pulsive decisions; a
bitter form er lover rem arks that he is
like "K ing M idas's idiot brother"
b e c a u se "e v e ry th in g y o u to u c h
turns to shit."
B ut not w hen he perform s. H is
voice carries a pure soulfulness that
could b reak your heart, and his ren ­
ditions o f sorrow ful old ballads surge
from a genuine place.
O ne especially telling scene c on­
tains the contradiction that plagues
him. Having traveled all the way from
N ew Y ork to seek out a C hicago pro­
ducer w ho m ight be able to boost his
prospects, he asks for an audition
and is invited to sing som ething that
dem onstrates w hat is "inside Llew yn
Davis" (as his non-selling album prom­
ises to deliver.) H e chooses to sing
"The D eath o f Q ueen Jane," a bleak
old tune about a w om an's death in
childbirth, w hich he delivers with
w istful sw eetness, leaving a bit o f his
soul on the em pty stage. T he pro­
ducer responds, "I don't see a lot o f
m oney here." D avis doesn't connect
with audiences enough to m ake it as
a front man, in his estim ation.
D avis accepts this p ro n o u n ce­
m ent stoically. H is surliness and
thoughtlessness looks different in
this light som ehow . D id he sab o ­
tage the audition w ith his ch o ice o f
song, by insisting on his m e la n ­
choly vision w ithout regard to the
audience he had before him , no t to
m ention the audience he seeks? W as
he being adm irable, o r foolish? H ow
thin is the line betw een artistic suc­
cess and artistic failure?
L le w y n D a v is is fre q u e n tly
unlikeable. T he loss o f his singing
p artn er to suicide lingers o v er the
film (th eir duet, play ed early on, is
the best cu t o n the soundtrack) and,
n o lo n g er "com fortable w ith h a r­
m ony," D av is resists suggestions
that he jo in a gro u p w here he w ould
no t be the front m an. B ut his sin g le­
ness o f p u rp o se w o u ld ap p ear to be
essen tial in a successful artist -- that
is, one w ho sold en o u g h m usic to
m o re than "just exist."
T h e C o en s h a v e b u ilt a film
aro u n d a p erso n w ho is both m ad ­
d e n in g ly fla w e d an d g lo rio u sly
gifted, som etim es in the sam e m o ­
m ent. T h ey in v ite you to w o n d er
ab o u t all th e talent that has gone
uncelebrated, and ab o u t w hat w e
ch o o se to celebrate.
Like all th eir film s, this one is full
o f w ry hum or. T h ere is a cat w ho
leads D avis on the film 's w eeklong
jo u rn e y and fo r w h o m he show s
m ore co n cern and m ore h eartless­
ness than any o th er character. A nd
there ;s an array o f vivid characters,
including that b itter bu t calculating
e x -lo v e r (C a re y M u llig a n ); h e r
clueless but co m m ercially savvy
h u sb an d an d sin g in g p a rtn e r (a
Page 15
c o n v in c in g ly
g o o fy
J u s tin
T im berlake); a caustic ja z z m usician
(John G o o d m an ) and his tacitu rn
b eat-p o et m anservant, w ith w hom
D avis travels to C hicago; and the
k in d ly u p p er-W est Side sociology
p ro fesso r and his w ife w ho are al­
w ays read y to o ffer D avis fo o d and
a p lace to crash.
T he C oens' vision is typically
term ed cynical, even m erciless - but
I love their w ry observations about
hum ans and their m any contradic­
tions. A nd I can't think o f w hen they
have m anaged a tone o f such w istful­
n ess.
B est o f all, there is the m usic. T-
B one B urnett has assem bled a c o l­
lection o f songs that b eau tifu lly
ev o k e the period, and m ost o f the
songs are p erform ed w hole by the
actors. It's a k in d o f survey o f the
various spots folk m usicians staked
ou t in the late 1950s/early 1960s,
m o stly m elan ch o ly tunes em p h a ­
sizing voice and guitar. E ven the
n arrativ e structure o f the film re ­
sem bles these old songs — the sam e
episode, w ith slight variations in
p erspective, begins and ends the
film, w ith a sw eet and m ournful jo u r­
ney in betw een. T he songs carry the
best o f th ese h u m an s, in cluding
w hat's inside L lew yn D avis.
Darleen Ortega is a judge on the
Oregon Court o f Appeals and the
first woman o f color to serve in that
capacity. Her movie review column
Opinionated Judge appears regu­
larly in The Portland Observer. You
can fin d her movie blog at
opinionatedjudge. blog spot. com.
Dear Friends:
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I
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A
z:
Parkin« .Àrea
Î.Î3 N E
Russell
»200
E
P lease send donations to: H elpH O PELive
2 R a d n o r C o rp o ra te C e n te r
100 M a ts o n fo rd R o ad , S u ite 100
R a d n o r, PA 19087
W
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Russell St
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Make checks payable to: HelpHOPELive. Note in memo section:
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C h arles W ashington
Past P u b lish er of th e P o rtlan d O bserve]
In memory of an outstanding and dedicated
member of Portland's Longest Standing
Minoritv Publication.
& *’1 j J o r 11 a it b (0 b s e i* o e i