10 Hidden Details In Opening And Closing Movie Scenes You Completely Missed
6. Inside Llewyn Davis - The Protagonist Remains Unchanged
The Coen brothers’ films are always subversive treats that never do quite what you expect, and their 2013 masterpiece, Inside Llewyn Davis, is no exception.
The film centres on the life of musician, Llewyn Davis (in Oscar Isaac’s breakout role), as he is struggling to make a name for himself in the music industry.
It opens with Davis performing at a cafe, where afterwards he is punched by someone for heckling a person in the audience the night before. The film closes in the exact same way, ending on Davis lying on the outside floor of the cafe, bleeding and alone.
When the feature begins, we are led to believe that the film is going to be a classic redemption story. Davis starts off as a self-destructive, depressive and - frankly put - quite loathsome character, and we begin to believe that he will improve his ways, and finally become a successful music artist.
However, in very typical Coens style, they subvert our expectations, and in fact this never happens; Davis never grows, never gets better, and ends the film in the exact same place he started it (if anything, he is in a much worse position).
The end gives us a very clear message - Davis remains unchanged, and he has not grown at all.