Saw OBWAT for the first time

[jlb]

For a movie that purportedly inspired alot of interest in bluegrass, I was surprised to note that there is really only one bluegrass song, Man of Constant Sorrow, in the whole film...and it is driven by a modern country-style of flatpicking. The singing also sounds more like modern country to me than bluegrass.

The rest of the songs in the movie seem to be old time country, old time country blues, or old time gospel tunes.

I couldn't recall hearing one instance of Scruggs-stlye playing.

I also found this movie to be exploitative of old time music...all of the charachters in the film are backwoods hillbillies. It even had a klansman singing Ralph Stanley's O Death in the context of lynching someone, which I found it to be particularly offensive.

My opinion: this film probably inspired interest in old time music (which I'm sure many have now confused with bluegrass) the same way Deliverance and Beverly Hillbillies inspired interest in bluegrass music...as an oddity to laugh at.

Not a timely post, I know, but I was kind of shocked by the films portrayal of the music.

[Tom C]

<span style='color:purple'>Actually the time takes place in 1937 which is before bluegrass. True, many of those tunes were written after 1937 but fit the movie well.</span>

jlb - good point. #Probably, to people not familar with the subtle differences between old time and bluegrass (not so subtle if you know them, maybe), bluegrass is the closest thing to the music in the movie that has its own section in Borders/B&N/Walmart/etc.

[mandodon]

I pretty much agree with you about the portrayal of old time music in this film. Pretty derogatory towards southern people and their traditional music.

More than that, the movie was pretty stupid. I don't really understand why it was so well met.

[Tom C]

"I don't really understand why it was so well met"
<span style='color:forestgreen'>Many movie reviewers did not give it high ratings, but I do not listen to other's opinions on matters like that. It was the music.</span>

[mandoanon]

Loved the music, loved the movie, bought the DVD and CD

People call me redneck, hillbilly, whatever... and I say "Naw.. Im just an Okie"

[Bobbie Dier]

I'm a hillbilly and I thought it was funny.

[Loren Bailey]

I think the bluegrass relation to the movie was due to Ralph Stanley's work on the soundtrack. The guy won a grammy that year for it. People started looking at his music, which he calls "mountain bluegrass". Also Dan Tyminski, who did George Clooney's vocals for Constant Sorrow, got some spotlight and focused people on Allison Kraus. She has been seen everywhere lately.

Totally agree, nothing on the OBWAT CD was "bluegrass".

[kebmando]

I'm not sure Hollywood is capable of making a movie about southern people without pulling out all the typical stereotypes, and I certainly didn't find this movie to be any exception.

But I think the soundtrack was more popular, and ultimately more important. It was like alot of folks who listen to mainstream computer-music remembered, "Wow, America has traditional music" and who knows, maybe the interest lasted longer than 2 weeks for some of them.

[adgefan]

bluegrass is the closest thing to the music in the movie that has its own section in Borders/B&N/Walmart/etc.
Here in the UK, we're not even that lucky. Anything played on acoustic instruments ends up in the "Folk/Roots" section.

I have loved the sound of old time and bluegrass music for years, but never knew who made it or where to look for it (you certainly don't hear it much on British radio).

OBWAT changed all that - it made record stores realise this "bluegrass" stuff, albeit mislabelled, might actually sell after all, and they pushed it much harder.

As a result, I have discovered Bill Monroe, the Carter Family, Alison Krauss and most importantly Chris Thile, who in turn inspired me to take up the mandolin.

Whether you like the film or not (personally, I love it) there is no denying the impact it has had on traditional American music all around the world. I certainly wouldn't be posting here today if the film had not been made.

[Martin Jonas]

Here in the UK, we're not even that lucky. Anything played on acoustic instruments ends up in the "Folk/Roots" section.

I have loved the sound of old time and bluegrass music for years, but never knew who made it or where to look for it (you certainly don't hear it much on British radio).
In my experience, bluegrass (and old time) usually gets lumped in with country in the UK, not with Folk. However, I'd say that the BBC, especially the newish BBC4 TV culture channel, have been pretty good for us recently. Over the last year they've broadcast (in full length and without breaks):

- Down From The Mountain
- Ralph Stanley at the Barbican (60 Min.)
- Laura Cantrell at the Barbican (30 Min. -- love the tone of her mandolin player).
- Alison Krauss live (same concert as on the 2-DVD set).
- Transatlantic Sessions (a great series of informal sessions with top US, Irish and Scottish acoustic musicians organised by Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas).

Martin

[pathfinder]

Quote (jlb):
"The rest of the songs in the movie seem to be old time country, old time country blues, or old time gospel tunes"

What you say is true, jlb. #But you gotta remember that these were the musical roots from which modern bluegrass evolved after the Depression.
#
The Coen Brothers (the movie's producers) couldn't put modern bluegrass in the movie because it would distract from what they were trying to do. #Their movie was loosely based on Homer's Odyssey, a classic Greek tale of men searching for hidden treasure and getting sidetracked by various dangers and bad characters along the way. #To superimpose this story into Depression-era America was ambitious enough (and made for a really weird story, IMHO), but the music had to be raw and gritty to make the movie remotely believable. #Putting sophisticated bluegrass arrangements and solos in there wouldn't cut it.

Did it work? #Well, up here in Canada, our national TV network (the CBC) is broadcasting the movie tonight from coast to coast at 8:00 PM. #And, weird story or not, it's gonna turn on a new generation of kids to acoustic roots music. #And the really dedicated and intelligent ones among them will discover bluegrass in due course.

As Martha Stewart is fond of saying, "That's a good thing!"

[Paul Kotapish]

O Brother, Where Art Thou never claimed to be a bluegrass movie or even a movie about southern culture. It is the Coen Brother's very personal homage to the '30s screwball comedies of Preston Sturgess, and more specifically a response to one of Sturgess's best films, Sullivan's Travels.

If you don't know Sturgess or his films, do youself a favor and rent Sullivan's Travels or least check out:

http://www.filmsite.org/sull.html

Coen Brother's films such as The Big Lebowski and The Hudsucker Proxy are squarely in the tradition of the screwball comedy, and even their more edgy films such as Fargo, Barton Fink, and Miller's Crossing engage many of the key elements of that particular film genre: goofy plots with archetypal overtones (in the case of OBWAT, Homer's Odyssey is the overarching plot reference), satire, broadly drawn characters that verge on caricature or stereotype, slapstick and physical comedy, and plenty of snappy dialog.

I think OBWAT succeeds wonderfully in extending a great American comedy tradition, and my hat's off to the Coen's for having the wisdom to let T Bone Burnett use period-appropriate music and to use the music as an integral part of the movie itself rather than as a underlying soundtrack.

The movie is silly, to be sure, but that was the whole point of the movie, and to bemoan the lack of bluegrass or realistic, sympathetic characters is to miss that point.

There is a woefully small roster of serious films portraying southern culture and music in a sympathetic light. A few of the good ones include John Sayle's Mateman, Victor Nunez's Gal Young 'Un, Glen Pitre's Belizaire the Cajun, and Michael Apted's Coal Miner's Daughter (with Levon Helm from the Band playing Loretta Lynn's father).

There was some debate about Cold Mountain when it came out, but I'd include it in the list of good films with good music from/about the south, too.

PK

[Moose]

Just as a sidelight to this thread... ; my wife NEVER liked Hee-Haw or Beverly Hillbillies... WHY.. ?? ; she was born and raised in East Tennessee ; she has said many times that these shows projected and presented a NEGATIVE sterotype of "southern people" and their culture. At first I didn't understand..., NOW I do... She's no longer my wife...but.., she WAS correct in her observation(s) - I don't hear too much "hand-wringing" 'bout THIS "media-portrayal" in comparison to "other" so-called "minorities" - Obviously Gaylord Media/Entertainment has/still is reaping a fortune from this "culture" - Go figure. - (No flames please... this is IMHO). http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Ted Eschliman]

I'm not sure Hollywood is capable of making a movie about southern people without pulling out all the typical stereotypes, and I certainly didn't find this movie to be any exception.
Maybe true, but did any one see "Fargo?"
Man, talk about nailing North Midwesterners. (Ouch!)
We just can't afford to get too sensitive about these things. Comedy is always about exaggeration, and we can't afford to take all this too seriously.
Life's too short.

[doanepoole]

I won't get too deep into this past saying that the placement and context that they put Ralph Stanley's number was totally innappropriate, and George Clooney as a southerner...come on! That's like casting Jackie Chan as Kareem Abdul Jabar.

Whether you liked the movie or not, it did alot to popularize traditional southern music, so it's a good thing in the end.

[Moose]

doanepoole : YES! - Your point is well-taken and I do agree...AMEN! - http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Bobbie Dier]

Quote Mandohack "We just can't afford to get too sensitive about these things. Comedy is always about exaggeration, and we can't afford to take all this too seriously.
Life's too short."

Amen Brother!

[mandoryan]

George Clooney was actually born and raised as a child in Lexington, Kentucky, not so far removed in southern culture by any means, just FYI. Not to defend anyone or anything, just stating the facts.