O’ Brother Where Art Thou? directed by Joel Coen (2001)

“There’s a lot to be said for making people laugh. Didn’t ya know that’s all some people have? It isn’t much but it’s better than nothing in this cockeyed caravan.” Sullivan’s Travels directed by Preston Surges.

O brother where art thou? An interesting question is posed by the always inventive Coen tricksters in their best film since the previous one. Certainly the fore mentioned Sullivan’s Travels wherein Joel MaCrea exchanges his identity as a Hollywood producer to become a hobo in search of the 'common man' provides the fodder for the title. And it's safe to say the Coles notes for Homer's The Odyssey provides a certain inspiration and Meta narrative. But there seems to be more going on here…
Perhaps O Brother can be found in the 1930’s photography of Dorothea Lange or Walker Evans? Or the deep south literature of Eudora Welty or William Faulkner? I don’t know. For some reason the compass is pointing more towards Busby Berkeley musicals, Hope and Cosby road comedies and the often surreal slapstick of the Three Stooges.
Having said that, the Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men of John Steinbeck is coming into view. Only to be obscured by glimpses of It Happened One Night, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, The Great McGinty, The Wizard of Oz, Triumph of the Will, Bonnie and Clyde, Cool Hand Luke and Godard’s Contempt. O brother where art thou indeed!
Ethan Coen provides some illumination on the subject when he tells us that O Brother is about “three dopes who escaped from a chain gang”. And watching it now I can tell you there are boxcars and railway tracks, Sirens and Cyclops, crossroads and campfires, baptisms and racism. There are allusions to blindness and seeing, photography and radio, George Clooney as Ulysees, Robert Johnson and Baby Face Nelson, treasure hunts, and 'the ties that bind'.
And there is the music: the bluegrass, gospel, country, blues and Negro spirituals that accompany the itinerant wanderers in their search for 'home'. 'Didn’t Leave Nobody But the Baby', 'Man of Constant Sorrow', 'Down to the River to Pray', as much as Roger Deakins’ sepia toned cinematography is candy for the eyes, the soundtrack is true nutrition for the ears.
In summary O Brother Where Art Thou? can best be found in your local video store. More than anything, watching this film will remind you of the movies.