O, Brother Where Art Thou - Movie Review Example

of the of the Concerned English 7 May O Brother, Where Art Thou? O Brother, Where Art Thou is a movie about the ways of destiny or the Divine Will, which allows the so called seemingly guilty and corrupt to thrive over the hypocritically inclined exalted, who actually tend to be evil at heart. The message enshrined in the movie is inherently contrary to the notions of popular values and ethics and lays stress on the innate purity and simplicity of heart over the superficial and explicitly discernible nobility and social recognition.

The central plot of the movie dealing with the experiences and adventures of the three escaped convicts seeking a treasure, but who end up finding the true treasure that is the treasure of brotherhood, brings out the quintessential values of American life through a story line that is elaborate, expansive, intricate and replete with action and drama. Though the movie is named O Brother, Where Art Thou, yet the fact is that throughout the film, brotherhood turns out to be scarce and nonexistent.

The protagonists have to bear with a series of betrayals. However, the hallmark of the movie is that irrespective of the roughness and corruption that life flings at them, they do not lose their essential innocence and goodness of heart. It is this sullied and pursued virtue of the protagonists that eventually turns out to be a big redeeming factor. The quintessential message that the movie conveys is that the predominant concern of God is how the individuals treat their fellow human beings rather than how they treat God.

The movie is set in the middle South of the 30s, replete with the aptly relevant events and characters like the blind prophet, travelling musicians, chasing policeman, diehard Baptists, bank robbers, Bible salesmen, lynch mobs, Ku Klux Klan, and prejudiced politicians. Such an expansive setting allows ample space and scope to the central characters to unravel their values and mores while engaging in a racy series of misadventures, ploys, sub plots, conspiracies and escapades. The period specific folk music woven throughout the movie accentuates the viewers’ sense of nostalgia, at the same time giving ample scope to the actors to furnish entertainment while furthering the plot, thereby bringing out varied layers of context and meaning inherent in the characters and the times in which they are placed.

The sepia tinted look in the movie, courtesy the digital color correction opted for by the directors, brings out the ambience of a bygone era. Action in the movie never seems to be leading towards a specific ending, but rather explodes out, thereby, sometimes meandering into the realm of no sense. Hence, for the viewers who are not favoring of abstract plots and themes dependent upon an excess of the acts of nature like the flood at the end, the movie may perhaps come out as being boring and confusing.

Overall, the movie immaculately supports the theme of invincibility of the innocent, in a format that is hilarious, superficially satirical and somewhat goofy.Inspired fromO Brother, Where Art Thou. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. 2000.