The epic poem of Greek gods, monsters, and a long journey titled The Odyssey by Homer is bold and powerful enough to inspire any man. It certainly inspired the Coen Brothers, creators of the movie O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? In fact, this astounding motion picture is based off The Odyssey. In the tall tale of The Odyssey, Odysseus, a brave warrior and king of a land called Ithaca, is returning home from the battle of Troy where he is faced with many challenges and encounters many dangers. In the movie, O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? by the Coen brothers, three prison escapees during the 1930's must encounter many metaphorically similar represented dangers to find a buried treasure and make it back home. The movie O’ Brother, Where Art Thou? and
Written by Ethan and Joel Coen and released on DVD by Touchstone Pictures and Universal Pictures in 2001, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? is supposed to be the first professional film in history to be digitally enhanced, in its entirety. The movie is a loose adaptation of the epic poem The Odyssey in which three escaped convicts; Everett Ulysses McGill (George Clooney,) and his two partners Delmar (Tim Blake Nelson) and Pete (John Turturro) experience the adventures of “Ulysses” (Homer) in varying ways. The actors meet along their way: “the Blind Prophet, the Cyclops, and the Sirens,” (Homer) all members of The Odyssey. This is intermixed with characters from the 1930’s including Baby Faced Nelson (Michael Badalucco,) a KKK mob, and a Governor (Charles Durning) running for reelection, which sets the period of the film. The period depicted, the Dust Bowl, gave Joel Coen director of the film rise to the need for digital manipulation of the production to achieve consistency in appearance and feel. The idea of using digital manipulation, and digital mastering of an entire film, has allowed the process of creating a film to be forever changed enhancing the pleasure of the viewer.
Homer’s Odyssey is the iconic story of a man’s episodic journey home. The film, O Brother Where Art Thou, is a justifiable homage to the Odyssey because of the many parallels between some of the major characters depicted in the movie and the epic poem. The movie is set in the 1930s in the state of Mississippi, changing the characters in social demeanor, but retaining their motivation and major plot points.
In the Greek epic, “The Odyssey”, Odysseus encounters many monsters and other obstacles on his trip home to Ithaca. “O Brother, Where Art Thou” is a modern day twist on Odysseus’ trip home. Ulysses Everett McGill, or Everett, escapes prison to return home to his “treasure”. Both Everett and Odysseus encounter the same obstacles, like the cyclops, Lotus eaters, and Sirens.
The film O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a reinterpretation of the epic poem The Odyssey. The Coen brothers, writers and directors of the film, did not over analyze their representation. “It just sort of occurred to us after we’d gotten into it somewhat that it was a story about someone going home, and sort of episodic in nature, and it kind of evolved into that,” says Joel Coen in Blood Siblings, “It’s very loosely and very sort of unseriously based on The Odyssey” (Woods 32). O Brother, Where Art Thou? contains ideas from The Odyssey for the sake of modernization and entertainment of an audience that comprehends the allusions to the epic. The Coen brothers utilize elements of Homer’s The Odyssey to improve and to give direction to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a reinterpretation which was made simply to show that an epic-adventure such as The Odyssey could be modernized to apply to modern times.
...journey that is taken by a man. Throughout both tales, the audience is habituated with the sense that both characters are on this journey. The journey, in both cases, is fought for family, which is indeed quite noble. Of course, human nature is a key similarity as well, as both of these men go great lengths in order to finally make it back to where they came from and to find true happiness. And as said before, both “The Odyssey” and “O Brother Where Art Thou?” can be thought of as stories of a man coming home, with all of the characters playing their parts to create a true epic. The small details are not what make these two tales similar. Instead, the creators used broad, yet powerful concepts about friendship, hardship, and love. And in the end, this pays off very well, giving the audience a great opening into a true world where human emotion and nature rule all.
In the winter of 2001, American audiences initially paid little attention to Joel and Ethan Coen's Depression era, jail-break, musical "buddy" comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? The film's reputation lingered, however, and over the next seven months O Brother eventually grossed a significant $45.5 million (imdb.com). Loosely adapted from Homer’s The Odyssey, the film focuses on Ulysses Everett McGill’s (George Clooney’s) journey from the jailhouse back to both his home in Ithaca, Mississippi, and to his wife Penny (Holly Hunter). Along with his two sidekicks, Delmar and Pete (Tim Blake Nelson and John Turturro), Ulysses encounters not only characters from the classic myth including the Sirens and the Cyclops, but also slices of American folk legend. Episodic in its narrative structure, the film unfolds like Homer’s saga with very few, if any, segues between the vignettes. The film deserves an admiring second look for the Coen brothers employ their old-time country music soundtrack in a manner analogous to Homer’s lyre, reconstruct gender roles and heroism for the American twentieth and twenty-first centuries, and create a moving tribute to the American South during the Great Depression.
Released in 200, Ethan and Joel Coen’s O Brother, Where Art Thou, is a fantastic twist on Homer’s Odyssey. Set in Mississippi during the Great Depression era, a trio consisting of the Ulysses “Everett” McGill (George Clooney), Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro), and Delmar O'Donnel (Tim Blake Nelson) escape from prison to seek an imaginary 1.2 million dollar fortune that Everett lies about. The group of adventurers (and convicts, no less) encounter many people along the way, running away from Sheriff Cooley (Daniel Bargen) and his policemen, who has been on the trio’s heels ever since they escaped the chain gang. Eventually, they return to Everett’s hometown where he reveals to Pete and Delmar
Throughout the history of film, the cinematography of films has been used to illustrate various things. In the film “O Brother, Where Art Thou” one scene exemplifies two types of cinematography marvelously. The purpose of the film is to tell a story about three men trying to achieve their fortune. Throughout the film, they face many challenges and must overcome many obstacles. The film is a telling of the reactions of the characters and how they handle all those obstacles, which is why the Klu Klux Klan scene, near the end of the film, is a good representation of what those men had to overcome. The scene starts out with the men on a form of hill looking down on a lynching. Then they see their friend, Tommy, about
The epic poem called The Odyssey, which was written by the poet Homer, is one of the many classical stories from Ancient Greek culture. It tells the story of Odysseus, King of Ithaca, and his journey back home from the war with Troy, which had occurred in Homer’s other epic Greek poem, The Illiad. Odysseus faces many trials and quests in his journey home and to take back his kingdom from the suitors, such as meeting the witch Circe, blinding a Cyclops named Polyphemus, dealing with Poseidon, and staying with the goddess Calypso. The poem has many themes that are relevant to it. One such theme is the factor of redemption. Redemption is usually a typical subject in any kind of religion, like the Greek religion and Christian religion. The story of Odysseus has an underlying message of him receiving redemption from the Greek gods. The Odyssey is a tale of redemption because it deals with Odysseus being forgiven by the gods after having to go through many trials and wrongs to rightfully claim back his wife and the throne of Ithaca.
Lastly, Overall, the cinematography, characters, mise en scene, and the references to The Odyssey make these films especially poignant in society. The films portray hard times in a way that shows the power of laughter in facing struggle. These films also depict civil inequalities during a time in America where things were most inequal. The mise en scene was especially powerful in O Brother Where Art Thou and the cinema scene was most powerful in Sullivan’s
The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem written by Homer. The epic revolves around the King of Ithaca, Odysseus, who has just finished fighting in the Trojan War and makes his way back home. Odysseus faces many obstacles and struggles throughout his journey. Both Telemachus and Penelope also face multiple obstacles while they wait for the return of Odysseus. Telemachus, Odysseus’s son ventures off to find his beloved father without informing his mother. Penelope, Odysseus’s wife was alone with the suitors who are all dying to marry her. Odysseus displays leadership through his journey similar to Tupac Amura Shakur and shows intelligence like Steve Jobs. Heros are seen as more than just warriors but as someone who society
“I am a man of constant sorrow, I’ve seen trouble all my days.” This main line sung by
Many diverse cultures are found in every corner of the world. Every culture is defined by its traditions and values. The film “The Odyssey,” depicts the culture of the ancient Greeks where it illustrates the life of a man, Odysseus, who has gone on a journey just to get back to his kingdom. Many values and traditions could be identified through the path of the journey. Some elements that are found important to the Greeks are the music, the religion, and the duty to the kingdom.
The Odyssey is Homer 's epic of Odysseus ' 10-year struggle to return home after the Trojan War. While Odysseus battles mystical creatures and faces the wrath of the gods, his wife Penelope and his son Telemachus stave off suitors vying for Penelope 's hand and Ithaca 's throne long enough for Odysseus to return. Throughout the return home Odysseus and his followers are tested countless times by mystical creatures,
The Odyssey, an epic story by Homer is a Greek poem written in 700 BC. It is a piece of literature that has been widely analysed because of the hero, Odysseus. O Brother, Where Art Thou is an 2000 adventure comedy film by Joel and Ethan Coen. This film has been described to be a retelling of the epic story The Odyssey with Ulysses Everett McGill (Everett) being the hero of the film. The two pieces of literature are based around their different cultures, but the Hero’s journey and adventure are the same. Even though their stated reason for their journeys are different, the archetypes are parallel in both myths and Odysseus and Everett are “ideal” heroes within their cultures.