O Brother, Where Art Thou?
This movie is all about place, and the cinematography puts us in the Deep South of the 1930s beautifully; the landscape shots in this film are amazing. Most Coen brothers films have a certain colour, and in this one it's low saturation and a gold tone. As was mentioned in the "Painting with Pixels" special feature, they had to make the Deep South in the summer (read: lush and green) look like the Depression dust bowl, and the gold tone worked for this. It also gave it a (sort of) sepia-tone that gave it an antique-y feel. The soundtrack is killer, and also places the film in it's particular time and place.
I like pretty much anything the Coen brothers do, so I'm a little biased, but if you happen to like beautiful black & white films, I'd recommend another of their films, "The Man Who Wasn't There". Gorgeous! It was filmed in colour, and converted to black & white later, I'm assuming digitally. And it's darkly funny like most of their films.
Hey, if anyone out there LOVES great cinematography like I do, here's one for you: " Hero". It's in the same genre as "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon", and omg - I so want posters made of specific scenes. Also check out Guy Maddin's "Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary". I'm not a Guy Maddin fan per se, but visually this is a movie you can...uh...really sink your teeth into.
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Holy Jonah, you can be a movie reviewer. Such a way with words! I feel like my commentaries on the films I saw are pretty juvenile in comparison! Good on ya!
ReplyDeleteGreat film review, Jonah! Unlike you it took me a few views to get a real appreciation for Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. Like myself, you're a big fan of the Coen Bros. and I think this is one of their most bizarre, funny and unpredictable films they've done.
ReplyDeleteThe look and color of the film is very unique and really adds another layer to the film. The Coen's always put a lot of effort, care and detail into their films and it shows in this one.
I really like your other recommendations, especially The Man Who Wasn't There, a fantastic film with I think one of the most beautiful black & white films ever made. The cinematography is stunning! It's one I need to revisit again though. You have to see a Coen Bros. film at least twice to get everything out of it.
Thanks for the review and the recommendations.
-MURPH