August 13 movie: Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. I thought this was going to be based on Sullivan's Travels, because of course that's about a Hollywood director who wants to make a movie called Oh Brother, Where Art Thou. But actually it was based on The Odyssey. Which I haven't read, so I guess a lot of this must have been lost on me, but I still enjoyed it a great deal.
There are a few elements in common with Sullivan's Travels: it takes place in the rural South during the depression, and there's a chain gang. But actually it reminded Georg and I both of Raising Arizona. There's the presence of Holly Hunter of course (and I must say, she is developing the sad, pinched look of someone who is suffering way too much to stay way too thin), but also there's something in Clooney's line delivery that reminded us of Nicolas Cage in the earlier movie. And both movies straddle the line between "laughing with" and "laughing at" in a similar way. In a little DVD extra one of the Coen brothers called Oh Brother a "hayseed movie." I guess they must have also seen Raising Arizona as a "hayseed movie" which is why they had a similar approach. And may also be why the people I've met from Arizona all hated Raising Arizona. I wonder how people from Mississippi feel about Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?
The connections between Oh Brother and The Odyssey are pretty thin. I believe I have read that neither Coen Brother has actually read the original work, either.
i watched this on TBS the other night. second time i'd seen it. i don't know about the odyssey connection, either, but i do know that i like george clooney more in this movie than i ever have in anything else.
I will list you the connections...I read the odssey....
1. George Clooney represents Odysseus
2. They escape from the chain gang in the beginning, thats when odysseus leaves troy to go back home to his wife and his son
3. The black glassed guy with the hound hunting the three is Poseiden...in the oddyssey is posedion...if you rad the book posiedon (god of the sea) is constantly chasing oddyseus and keeping him off course because oddysseus ticked off posiedon.
4. The three chicks at the river singing...they are the mermaids that esnare some of oddyseus' crew by their angelic voices
5. Delmer thinks Pete is turned into a frog, in the oddysee, oddyseus lads on the island that s home to the god of dancing and partying, she turns a couple of oddyseus' men into animals...
6. The salesman that beats the crap out of the guys...if you noticed that he has an eyepatch...THATS THE CYCLOPS!! DUH! lol sorry that is a dead giveaway!
7. The flood...I cudnt figure anythign out for the flood...but there are a lot more little detaisl tat are in the movie and reated to the oddysee but im not going to ge tinto those because there are a lot of them. I hope this helped you out!