"O Brother Where Art Thou?" Film Review

                O Brother, Where Art Thou? The title itself is a nod to Preston Sturges’s 1941 Great Depression flick Sullivan’s Travels, a tale of a comedy director’s struggle to release a socially-conscious movie (entitled O Brother, Where Art Thou?) in a time where people go to the movies to escape the world, not accept it. Following a number of mishaps and shenanigans, our protagonist finally reaches the end of the movie with a new-found appreciation for the comedy genre.

                O Brother, Where Art Thou? was based on the Greek epic The Odyssey, but in many ways resembles Sullivan’s Travels. Like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Sullivan’s Travels has its roots in a well-known piece of literature; the 17^th century adventuring tale Gulliver’s Travels. Both of these movies, as well as the works they were based on, follow a man and his wild journey that leads to self-discovery.

                The opening scene of O Brother Where Art Thou? immediately establishes the tone for the remainder of the movie. We are welcomed with a panning shot of the fields of Mississippi and the sounds of pickaxes and chain-songs. After a long shot of the plains the camera rests on a group of chain-gangers, picking away at rocks on the side of the road. Eventually the camera returns to the fields, where we are greeted with a change of pace as our protagonists emerge from the fields chained together and on the run.

                The rest of the film follows our protagonist, a smooth-talking fugitive by the name of Everett Mcgill. Everett is a smart, but arrogant man. His self-pronounced “capacity for abstract thought” is the leading cause of his troubles. We watch as Mcgill tries as hard as he can to resist change in the name of stubbornness, until he eventually accepts that he can’t outsmart everything. The Coen brothers make this both implicitly and explicitly obvious through their writing and use of symbolism.

                The use of symbolism is a major plot element of O Brother Where Art Thou?. One example of symbolism usage is the amount of dirt and grime coated on Everett’s face at any given time. Early in the movie the other two members of the chain-gang come across a congregation in the woods being baptized. Delmar (one of the fugitives), sprints to the front of the line, where he is baptized and told he is absolved of all his sins. The third fugitive by the name of Pete hastily follows suit. As they wade back shore they tell Everett to do the same, but out of stubbornness he refuses, ridiculing their superstition. Everett’s pride is implicitly represented by the grime built up on his face. His unwillingness to be baptized, which would at the same time wash away the dirt, shows he is too prideful to buy into spirituality, even after Delmar expresses that “it couldn't hurt.” They continue on their journey, but now with a clean-faced and clean-slated Pete and Delmar.

                It isn’t until the climax of the movie that Everett accepts his fate and shows some semblance of humbleness. Having finally been caught by the authorities in the woods with nooses ready, our trio is brought to their knees and told to pray before they’re strung up. Our once prideful protagonist, who at the beginning of the story might have kept his mouth shut, is now praying to God for mercy, not just for his own sake, but for the sakes of his family and his fugitive companions. Only seconds later a deus ex machina takes place as a cataclysmic flow of water comes crashing down around them, freeing them from their fate. As our protagonists are brought to the surface of the water, we see Everett’s face washed clean, symbolizing a newfound humbleness and maturity.

                The Coen brothers also implicitly express the meaning and tone of the movie on a scene-by-scene basis. In one scene, the three protagonists stumble across a group of scantily-clad women singing and washing their clothes in a stream.

                All around them are beautiful trees and the sounds of nature. The film is over-saturated, making the scene appear more intimate. The three beautiful women continue to wash their clothes while lulling the protagonists in, before getting up and dancing around them. The camera zooms in to a close up of each of our protagonists with a women wrapped around each one of them, giving the scene a much more personal feel. Slowly the camera begins to zoom out and the once sweet sound of the women singing becomes distorted with an eerie whistle, giving the audience the clue that something isn't right. The camera fades to black and we are left in the dark for a few seconds while the music still plays.

                We are quickly cut to a much less appealing scene of a close-up of Delmar laying face up in the mud. The saturation from the previous scene has disappeared and been replaced with an assortment of grays. The contrast between this scene and the prior one gives the audience the idea that our protagonists have been duped. It’s only seconds later that we realize our assumptions were correct, as the camera jumps to the point of view of Delmar and we see that he discovers Pete missing. 

Works Cited

• Prince, Stephen R. Movies and Meaning: An Introduction to Film. 6th Edition ed. N.p.: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.
• Coffey, Donnacha. "O Brother, Where Art Thou? FilmGrab." Web log post. Film-grab.com. N.p., 5 Sept. 2010. Web.
• Woods, Conley. "Sullivan's Travels (1941)." Sullivan's Travels (1941). N.p., 2007. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
• Ebert29, Roger. "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" All Content. N.p., 29 Dec. 2000. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
• O Brother, Where Art Thou? Dir. Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Perf. George Clooney. 2000. DVD.
• Richards, Evan. "The Cinematography of “O Brother, Where Art Thou” (2000)." @ Evan E. Richards. N.p., Aug. 2010. Web. 14 Apr. 2014.