INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (2013), Dir. by Joel & Ethan Coen

What’s often said about folk music is that it’s the same handful of tired laments regurgitated over centuries plus. What’s missed about this critique is the complicated (and often mythological) backstories of the genre’s songs, and the relationships that performers have to them.

With Llewyn Davis, the Coens succeed in delicately crafting a character that embodies the spirit of said genre in a way that feels contemporary but stays true to the toils of his time. The tension between his work and his decisions is arduous, but his behaviour is linked with shame in a way that brilliantly reflects American culture of the early-mid 20th century, especially when you read between the lines of folk music’s roots (both in its genesis and its revival).