O Brother, Where Art Thou? DVD cover (fair use)

(7) COEN BROTHERS –

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000)

“You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in chains. You will find a fortune, though it will not be the one you seek. But first… first you must travel a long and difficult road, a road fraught with peril. Mm-hmm. You shall see thangs, wonderful to tell…”

So says the Blind Railman, this film’s equivalent of the blind prophet Tiresias in the underworld.

Some might prefer this film adaptation of the Odyssey to that of Nolan – and I obviously regard it as the only other cinematic version worthy of a place in my top ten, albeit second to Nolan’s film.

My reason is that Nolan’s film is a more straightforward adaptation of the original epic. As entertaining as it is, O Brother is only loosely based on the original epic – “a loose comedic retelling of Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem, The Odyssey, set in 1930s Depression-era Mississippi.” Oh – and musical as well.

Indeed, part of the fun is spotting the parallels with the original epic. George Clooney’s Ulysses and Holly Hunter’s Penelope. John Goodman’s cyclops. The sirens – always the best part of the Odyssey and one of the highlights here. And so on.

The other highlight for me was Sheriff Cooley and his relentless pursuit of Clooney’s Ulysses, as well as the latter’s escape by divine fortune. In terms of the epic, Cooley represents Poseidon (or the forces of divine retribution or nemesis in general), but arguably also Hades and the underworld, merged with the Christian Devil.