O Brother, Where Art Thou?

For the Simpsons episode, see Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a musical comedy film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, set in Mississippi during the Great Depression (specifically, 1937). It was released in 2000.

The film stars George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning. The Coen brothers claim to have based the movie on the Odyssey by Homer, but admit to not having read the epic. The film's American roots music soundtrack won a Grammy for Album of the Year. (See O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack).)

Plot

The hero of the film is a dapper, smooth-talking con man called Ulysses Everett McGill. Ulysses escapes from a chain gang and brings along the two fellow prisoners chained to him with the promise of recovering buried treasure from a heist. In truth, he only wants to get back to his wife before she marries someone else.

Based on the "Odyssey" by Homer

The first joke of the film is a title that reads, "Based upon Homer's Odyssey." In interviews, the Coen brothers have been quick to joke that they never actually read the Odyssey, but the film patterns many of its characters and situations, very loosely, upon that ancient work. The Coens admit to having gleaned most of the incidental details of Homer's epic from the 1955 filmed adaptation, starring Kirk Douglas.

Episodes in the film somewhat resemble the Odyssey. Everett tends to come off much worse than his mythical counterpart Odysseus. A viewer familiar with the Odyssey may often expect the hero to triumph. Typically, this does not happen, although things turn out all right later, partly because the hero is so irrepressible, partly by sheer luck. Among the similarities:

"Sing to me of the man, Muse... ", the line at the beginning of the film, is the first line of the Odyssey.
Ulysses is the Roman name of Odysseus.
A blind prophet - possibly a Tiresias figure - who foreshadows that "the treasure you seek shall not be the treasure you find."
A merciless sheriff wanting to lynch him, perhaps analogous to Poseidon in the story of the Odyssey, but also alluded to as Satan throughout the film; this is strengthened by the presence of a hunting dog, which echoes Cerberus as well as the common mythological Hellhounds. The link between the two (Satan and Poseidon) is made when Ulysses mentions that Satan carries "a giant fork" (a trident); both figures are often depicted with just such an instrument. Perhaps in relation to this, he also bears an uncanny resemblance to Boss Godfrey. Near the end of the movie, he states "The law is a human institution," suggesting that the sheriff is not human at all. He is always shown with fire reflected in his sunglasses, giving him a supernatural aura. All of the sheriff's paralleled characters embody an antagonist in possession of some degree of supernatural characteristics.
John Turturro's character Pete could be a reference to Eurylokhos who like Pete, is a disgruntled member of Odysseus's crew who constantly clashes with his authority.
A trance-like progression of worshippers seeking to be baptised. Their glassy eyed placidity draws a parallel with the Lotus-Eaters of the Odyssey.
Sirens, who lure the hero with their singing, and treat him to corn liquor until he passes out. The sirens also have an element of the sorceress Circe by appearing to transform one of his companions into an animal.
A Cyclops in the form of a one-eyed Bible salesman who is really a con man, "Big Dan" Teague. Although in the original story Odysseus outwits the Cyclops, in the movie it is Teague who outwits Everett. Later, at one point it seems that he is about to be blinded by a pole (as in the Odyssey), but he catches it just in time. However, moments later, he is struck by a burning cross which the heroes topple upon him, possibly a reference to the burning, red-hot stake that was used against him in the Odyssey.
As Odysseus visits Aeolus on the floating island of Aeolia, Everett visits the radio station WEZY. He and his friends scam the blind proprietor of the radio station, and record what will become their hit song. The radio can be seen as a modern form of weather (wind), and the station is the island of the wind, just as the printing press is the analog for the wind in the Aeolus episode in James Joyce's Ulysses.
A rival for his wife Penelope (Penny). Penelope does not believe it really is Odysseus when she first sees him after he has returned to Ithaca in the Odyssey. She tests him by asking him a question only he would know. The movie parallels this; when Ulysses returns home, he finds his wife, Penny, has gotten engaged in his absence and declared him dead. However, where Odysseus slew the other suitors, Everett challenges Penny's new fiancé to a round of fisticuffs and is beaten soundly, then thrown out of the Woolworth's.
Ulysses is driven by bad luck ultimately caused by pride. Everett's obsession with his Dapper Dan "hair treatment," and his insistence on its use, allows the sheriff's bloodhound to track him by the scent. In the Odyssey, Odysseus had provoked Poseidon's wrath with his hubris when he boastfully shouted his name to the Cyclops, Poseidon's son, after injuring him, and it was Poseidon's wrath that drove Odysseus from misfortune to misfortune.
As Odysseus was king of Ithaca, his hair pomade may also be a reference to the Greek practice of anointing kings by pouring olive oil over their hair.
Pappy O'Daniel's first name, Menelaus, is the name of the king of Sparta who fought alongside Odysseus.
The scene in the theater, When Pete tries to warn Ulysses and Delmar, parallels Odysseus' descent into the underworld. Delmar, believing that Pete had died, mistakes him (and thus also the other people in the theater) for a ghost. In this scene Pete parallels Tiresias in the underworld.
The scene of the Ku Klux Klan lynch mob is a reference to Odysseus as a prisoner of the Cyclops. The Klansmen are preparing to lynch a black man (the Cyclops preparing his dinner). Ulysses, Delmar and Pete don Klan robes as a disguise, in order to save him, as Odysseus dressed his men in sheepskins to fool the Cyclops. "Big Dan" Teague is also here among the Klansmen (another Cyclops), and almost gets blinded by a thrown flagpole supra. Their discovery by the Klansmen is pointed out by the local group leader — a position in the KKK known as the Exalted Cyclops — yet although they are discovered as impostors, they are still mistaken for other people, as when the Cyclops discovered the escape of Odysseus and his men, but still didn't know his identity.
The challenger in the governor's race is named "Homer" Stokes (his first name is the same as the author of the Odyssey).
In the original story, Odysseus regains entrance to his household by disguising as an old man. In the film Ulysses and his gang sneak into a political rally by dressing up as a bluegrass band with long gray beards.
At one point George Nelson shoots at a herd of cattle. This may be a reference to a scene in the book where Odysseus and his fellow travelers slaughter the cows of the sun god Helios. As Ulysses warns his men against killing the sacred oxen of the sun for food, Delmar warns Nelson, "Oh, George, not the livestock!" In addition to this, in the Odyssey, Ulysses' ship is struck by a thunderbolt — killing all but our hero. In O Brother, George is executed in the electric chair, and during the parade to the execution, someone leading a cow behind the mob yells, "Cow killer!!!"
In the movie, Ulysses, Pete, and Delmar float on a coffin after the area his home was in is flooded. In the original Odyssey, Odysseus sails on a raft for 17 days before it is destroyed by Poseidon.
In the movie, Ulysses meets an old and blind prophet. In the Odyssey, Odysseus goes to the underworld to seek the advice of Tiresias, an old and blind prophet, who also tells him that his travels will not be over until he takes an oar and walks so far inland that someone asks him why he carries a winnowing-fan (the point of doing this is to bring knowledge of the sea to people who did not previously know Poseidon, thereby "making up" for his mistakes). Upon doing this, he is also to make a sacrifice to Poseidon. This is possibly mirrored in the movie by Ulysses' being given an equally seemingly impossible task — to find one ring at the bottom of a lake.
The name "Odysseus" roughly translates to "man of constant sorrow", which is the title of the "hit single" that the Soggy Bottom Boys perform.
When we see Pappy O'Daniel discussing the upcoming campaign in the restaurant, over his shoulder you can see a bust of Homer.
In the Odyssey, Odysseus angers the god Poseidon with pride, and is thus sent on his journey. His travels come to an end when he shows humility. Everett similarly scoffs at the baptisms of Pete and Delmar, and soon finds many obstacles in his path homeward. His trek also ends when he humbles himself. Not ironically, water is involved at both points — the baptisms and the flooding — since Poseidon was the god of the waters.
In the Odyssey, Penelope swore only to marry a man who could shoot an arrow through seven axes, a feat only ever performed by Odysseus. When none of the suitors could, Odysseus performed it in his guise of an old man, drove the suitors away, and claimed his wife for his own. In the Movie, the Soggy Bottom Boys remain anonymous (on the run) while their song grows ever popular, and no-one can duplicate it. When they play it, they are instantly recognised, as Odysseus was, and so they discard their disguises like him. Penny follows suit, taking Ulysses back by the end of the film.
The role of Tommy Johnson is similar to the role of Athena in the Odyssey, who secretly helps Odysseus during his journey. Each time Ulysses encounters Tommy, good luck follows. Tommy leads the trio to the radio station where they record their hit single; the act of saving Tommy from the lynching leads to Ulysses' triumph at the political rally; near the end, Tommy floats on the roll-top desk in which Penny has told Ulysses her wedding ring can be found.

Other notable episodes in the film include the trio encountering:

the bank robber George "Baby Face" Nelson
a KKK lynch mob
musicians clearly modeled after the blues singer Tommy Johnson (whom the protagonists first encounter, naturally enough, at a dusty crossroads) and the Carter Family, the bluegrass musicians Sara, Maybelle and A.P. Carter.
Homer Stokes, who leads the county's chapter of the KKK (cf. Exalted Cyclops), bears a resemblance to a real-life Klansman, William J. Simmons. ^*
Big Dan Teague, who is also a member of the KKK, bears a resemblance to another real-life member, D. C. Stephenson. ^*

Southern music and politics

Apart from the Odyssey, another theme of the film is the connection between old-timey music and political campaigning in the southern U.S. The character of "Pappy" O'Daniel, the Governor of Mississippi and host of the radio show The Flour Hour, is closely based on W. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel, one-time Governor of Texas and later US Senator from that state. An eye-witness reports that an actual "W. Lee-O" campaign stop was exactly like those depicted in the film. The real O'Daniel was in the flour business, and used a backing band called the Light Crust Doughboys on his radio show, rather like the Soggy Bottom Boys in the film. In one campaign, O'Daniel carried a broom, promising to make a clean sweep in Austin. His theme song had the hook, "Please pass the biscuits, Pappy," emphasizing the wholesome flour-connection. On two of these points, the movie differs: The O'Daniel of the movie used the theme song of Jimmie Davis, Governor of Louisiana — "You Are My Sunshine", and O'Daniel's opponent in the Mississippi Gubernatorial race, Homer Stokes, is the one who carries the broom. The lead guitarist of the Soggy Bottom Boys is a direct reference to the Delta Blues artist Tommy Johnson or possibly Robert Johnson. Legend claims that young Tommy Johnson sold his soul to the devil; in return he was able to play the guitar.

Title

The title of the film is a reference to a plot element in a satirical 1941 film, directed by Preston Sturges, called Sullivan's Travels, where the protagonist (a director) wants to direct a film on the Great Depression called Brother, Where Art Thou? that will be "...a commentary on modern conditions, stark realism, the problems that confront the average man... with a little sex in it." Lacking any real experience as an average man, the director sets out on a journey to experience the human suffering of the average man but is constantly returned to his rich Hollywood environment. The director's experience and intent in Sullivan's Travels are the opposite of the disadvantaged heroes in O Brother, Where Art Thou? who wish to return home and are constantly being diverted from it.

O Brother, Where Art Thou? contains references to many other films including The Wizard of Oz and Cool Hand Luke. The KKK rally with the chanting and marching klansmen, and the heroes who sneak in by overpowering three of the klansmen and taking their outfits, is directly taken from the Wicked Witch's castle guards scene.

The "Everett McGill" in the name of Clooney's character may be a reference to actor Everett McGill, an actor who appeared in the film Quest for Fire. McGill portrayed the leader of a group of three early humans on a journey to find fire and bring it back to their tribe. The name "Ulysses Everett McGill" may refer to Clooney's character's leadership of a similarly dim-witted trio on a quest.

Soggy Bottom Boys

The Soggy Bottom Boys are the fictitious Depression era "old-timey music" trio and accompaniment from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Their hit single is the Stanley Brothers' "Man of Constant Sorrow," which also became a hit single in real life. The Soggy Bottom Boys eventually became so popular that the actual talents behind the music (who were dubbed into the movie) Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch and Dan Tyminski planned and performed music from O Brother, Where Art Thou? in a concert tour.

The voices behind the Soggy Bottom Boys themselves were members of the band Union Station: Dan Tyminski (lead on "Man of Constant Sorrow"), Harley Allen, and Pat Enright. The three won a CMA Award for Single of the Year and a Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals, both for the song "Man of Constant Sorrow." Tim Blake Nelson, playing Delmar O'Donnell in the movie (one of the Soggy Bottom Boys) sang the lead vocal himself for the song "In the Jailhouse Now."

"Man of Constant Sorrow" has five variations: two are used in the movie, one in the music video and two in the soundtrack. Two of the variations feature the verses being sung back-to-back, and the other three variations feature additional music between each verse. In 2003 musicians Skeewiff remixed "Man of Constant Sorrow." The song was so popular in Australia that it featured at number 96 in the Triple J's hottest 100 songs of 2003.

Cast

George Clooney (Ulysses Everett McGill)
Tim Blake Nelson (Delmar O'Donnel)
John Turturro (Pete)
John Goodman (Big Dan Teague, the cyclops)
Holly Hunter (Penny)
Charles Durning (Governor "Pappy" O'Daniel)
Chris Thomas King (Tommy Johnson)
Daniel von Bargen (Sheriff Cooley, "Satan")
Ray McKinnon (Vernon T. Waldrip)
Michael Badalucco (George Nelson)
Stephen Root (Radio Station Man)
Wayne Duvall (Homer Stokes)
Will McSpadden (Mr. Indent)

External links

O Brother, Where Art Thou? | O'Brother | אחי, איפה אתה? | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | O Brother, Where Art Thou?