What filmmaking techniques does Inside Llewyn Davis use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): Circular Structure, Picaresque Structure, Symbolic Object, Diegetic Musical Performance and Self-Image Sabotage.

Who directed Inside Llewyn Davis?

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen directed Inside Llewyn Davis, released in 2013. CineCode also covers Blood Simple (1985), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996).

What films are similar to Inside Llewyn Davis?

Films that share techniques with Inside Llewyn Davis include It Happened One Night (1934), Forrest Gump (1994), La Dolce Vita (1960), Night of the Hunter (1955).

Drama · Music · Comedy

Inside Llewyn Davis

Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, 2013

In 1961, a broke folk singer drifts through Greenwich Village, sleeping on friends' couches and wrecking each chance he gets. A week of cats, borrowed cars and failed auditions follows. Watch how the film lets whole songs play and turns a loop into a statement.

3 Narrative 1 Sound 1 Psychology

At a glance

Inside Llewyn Davis is a 2013 drama, music and comedy film directed by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (3 narrative, 1 sound and 1 psychology), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, It Happened One Night uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Circular Structure

Ending the film where it started, or with a scene that echoes the opening. The repeat shows what has changed, or suggests the cycle will keep going.

How this film uses it

The film opens with Llewyn being beaten in the alley behind the Gaslight Cafe. At the end, you learn the opening was the ending of the week. The loop shows that nothing has changed for him, and a young Bob Dylan is on stage as it closes.

Where to see it

The last scene. Llewyn leaves the Gaslight and is beaten in the alley by the man in the suit, as Dylan sings inside.

Narrative

Picaresque Structure

Telling the story as a loose string of separate adventures, often following a low-status hero through different levels of society. With no single plot, the episodes add up to a portrait of a world.

How this film uses it

The story is a chain of couches, rides and meetings. Llewyn visits the Gorfeins, the Berkeys and his sister, then rides to Chicago with 2 strangers, then comes back. Each stop shows a different corner of the folk scene.

Where to see it

The Chicago road trip. Llewyn rides with Johnny Five and Roland Turner and takes a ginger cat along.

Narrative

Symbolic Object

Returning to the same physical object again and again until it means more than what it is. It moves the plot and also stands for the film's main ideas.

How this film uses it

A ginger cat escapes the Gorfeins' apartment, and Llewyn carries it around town. He leaves a cat in a car and later hits a cat on a road. At the end, the real cat, Ulysses, has found his way home. The cat can go back where Llewyn cannot.

Where to see it

The cat's return. Llewyn visits the Gorfeins and sees that their cat Ulysses made his own way home.

Sound

Diegetic Musical Performance

Letting characters perform the songs on screen, so the music comes from their own hands and voices. You hear the song and the performer's nerves at the same time.

How this film uses it

Most of the folk songs are sung in full and recorded live. Llewyn sings Fare Thee Well at the Gorfeins' dinner, and Mrs. Gorfein sings the harmony he used to share with his late partner. He snaps at her, and the song shows his grief.

Where to see it

The Gorfeins' dinner. Llewyn plays Fare Thee Well, and Mrs. Gorfein sings Mike's harmony.

Psychology

Self-Image Sabotage

Letting a character's belief about themselves undermine their talent or fortune. They wreck their own chances because of how they see who they are.

How this film uses it

Llewyn turns down royalties for a novelty song to take $200 right away, then turns down Bud Grossman's offer of a place in a trio. He later heckles a singer at the Gaslight. You watch him make the choice that costs him the most.

Where to see it

The Chicago audition. Llewyn plays for Bud Grossman, who offers a place in a trio, and Llewyn rejects it.

Questions

Inside Llewyn Davis: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does Inside Llewyn Davis use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013): Circular Structure, Picaresque Structure, Symbolic Object, Diegetic Musical Performance and Self-Image Sabotage.
Who directed Inside Llewyn Davis?: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen directed Inside Llewyn Davis, released in 2013. CineCode also covers Blood Simple (1985), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996).
What films are similar to Inside Llewyn Davis?: Films that share techniques with Inside Llewyn Davis include It Happened One Night (1934), Forrest Gump (1994), La Dolce Vita (1960), Night of the Hunter (1955).

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