the release of neo-noir buddy comedies The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Introduction
It has been more than two decades since the release of neo-noir buddy comedies The Big Lebowski and O Brother, Where Art Thou?. The crime comedy films were produced and directed by the Coen’s brothers, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. The two may not be the most acknowledged names in the contemporary American Cinema; however, they are praised for their non-commercial approach of film making. In the two films, both the brothers portrayed their incredible filming techniques that are often simple and precise. Their cinematic style is unique, and more often involves exaggerated comedy actions. One may think that there is nothing they can’t do. They have eyes for the picturesque, an ear for earworms, a nose for additives, and a modius touch for casting. In the two films, it is easy to note their idiosyncratic skills. This paper will compare and contrast both films based on their cinematographic techniques as well as subject matter and soundtrack that were used.
Subject Matter
In both films, Coen’s brothers addressed the use of politics in contemporary societies. They achieved this by expressing it exaggeratedly and humorously. Politics are in the background of the protagonist’s journey in the entire filming O brothers Where Art Thou?. At first, they encounter Pappy O’Donnell in the recording studio, and they try to indulge him in a conversation, but he refuses to. Pappy is frustrated by the fact the night he might lose in the re-election due to Homer Stroke growing popularity.
Homer Strokes fights for the oppressed farmers. However, during campaigns, he upsets his voters by insulting the Soggy Bottom Boys and mocking their ethnically integrated band: this made him lose voters. Pappy, however, takes this opportunity to pretend to be Soggy Bottom’s biggest fan, which wins him favors. In this film, Coens brothers depict politics as a dirty and quick game of responding to public opinions rather than principles. Similarly, Big Lebowski also addresses the issue of politics. Some characters are reflected by their political persuasions that indicating the hidden meaning of their identity and their response to conflicts. For instance, Jeffrey Lebowski, commonly referred to as ‘The Dude,’ is depicted as a pacifist, where else the cops who arrest him as fascist. Also, the Germans are reflected as nihilists. These political persuasions are termed as philosophies of life, are connected to their identities. Moreover, the millionaire Lebowski represents a greedy and corrupt Republican; who poses as a generous philanthropist but squandering funds from his charitable organizations while insisting on the importance of personal responsibility. Therefore, both films, politics are addressed as to how the rich took advantage of the ordinary people for personal interest.
The film The Big Lebowski is based on a lie. In the end, we found out that Lebowski lied about his motives the whole time. The nihilists who claimed to have kidnapped Bunny also lied. The entire story revolves around a lie and how people use their deception to manipulate others for their gain. Similarly, in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? Coen’s brothers addressed the theme of deceit through Everett. Towards the end, he reveals that he had lied to Selma and Pete; there was no treasure. Everett made up the story in order to convince them to elude with him. Although he cared about the well-being, he never apologized to them. Both films addressed the topic of deceit and how some characters used it to manipulate others.
Soundtracks and Music
In the film, The Big Lebowski soundtrack only provides part of the movie’s audio, especially as a backdrop to imminently repeatable conversations that pervade the film. The Coen’s meticulously these soundtracks to match the dialogue. They structured it in such a way that dialogue intersects in essential ideas with the musical soundtrack. It was weaved in and out of the layers that come before it. Soundtracks made it possible for the viewers to understand these characters and the relationship to one another. Some songs also helped in characterizing the film protagonist. Similarly, soundtracks are highly used in the film O Boys, where art thou?. The sound fire whooshing through the burn, and the crackling of the bullets give the viewers a strong sense of danger. The prominent sound was the soothing guitar. It adds a touch of calmness and friendship among the characters. The reason for the success of the film was mainly of its soundtracks to actively moved along. The Duo compiled and recorded soundtracks with various artists before shooting the movie. Therefore, both films highly used soundtracks, although “O Brother, where art thou” used it more efficiently.
The music in the film O Brother, Where art Thou? Have a compelling meaning behind it and as one of the essential aspects of the movie. The Coen’s brothers used music because of its historical context, especially due to its rich religious characteristics. All the songs used in the film have a political as well as religious and historical meaning. Coen’s picked each song to fit in the corresponding scene very precisely this making a perfect soundtrack. They used music to enhance the film to an unusual degree. On the contrary, The Big Lebowski was not musical, although it was used to identify some characters’ identities, for instance, the Dude.
Cinematography
Both films used basic cinematography techniques such as extreme long shot, medium shot, close up shot, and Bird’s eye. The Coen’s succeeded in virtually telling their stories. The extreme long shot was highly used in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” especially in the fire scene. Besides, a high-angle shot was used when each man was sharing his future dreams. This creates a bond between them. It shows that they are relaxed and comfortable sharing their dreams and aspirations. Moreover, the camera zoom was used to focus on each man as he tells his story. This technique was also used in the film the Big Lebowski movie. For instance, the scene where men are fighting in order to focus clearly on characters’ fighting skills and reactions. Several lighting techniques were used in the film O Brother Where Art Thou?. Lighting ranged from black and white to orange, yellow, and red, for instance, in the campfire. However, in both films, low-key lighting was used. There were a lot of shadows, especially in “O Brother Where Art Thou?”. The film has many shades of grey. However, there is much lighting in “The Big Lebowski.” The film is much less blur and only dominated by clear images.