Sound And Imagery In Oh Brother Where Art Thou

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In the hit movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, made in the year 2000, directed by Joel Coen, we see the journey of three escaped convicts by the name of Everet, Delmar, and Pete. They are on their way to find a hidden treasure worth more than one million dollars. Along the way, they encounter many obstacles that test their ability to resist temptation. One time in particular is the scene where they encounter sirens on their way to find the treasure. In this scene, the 3 men hear women singing, only for it to be sirens trying to capture them on their journey. Coen uses sound and imagery in this scene to show temptation taking over the mens mind. One of the most interesting aspects of the movie is the soundtrack. Music is used in movies to either …show more content…

They follow it and see three beautiful women singing a song in a river. These women are sirens, kinda like the ones in Homer’s Odyssey, and they sing a soft lullaby, saying “go to sleep, little baby”. The men easily get distracted by the three women. The singing continues, with the sirens never speaking, which gives them an eerie, not-quite-human effect as they slowly work their way over to the 3 men. The long drawn out motion, with the continual singing in the background, gives the effect that the sirens are putting a spell on the three men. These sirens are a sign that the travelers are weary, beginning to lose their willpower to continue, and have fallen prey to the sirens' allure. The element of imagery is also hard at work when it comes to making this scene so important. It helps the scene have an outward appearance of great beauty, with the sound of the river flowing, the glide of the sun off the water, the pretty green trees in the background, and the sunshine shining through the little windows in the trees, but still gives it a scene of warning, indicating the men are still in danger of being captured, even though they are seemingly in the presence of 3 beautiful

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