The Coen Brothers have one of the most various filmographies of whatever filmmakers and O Brother, Where Art Chiliad? is another crowning jewel in their brilliant body of work. The film stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson as a trio of escaped convicts searching for a hidden treasure across Depression Era Mississippi.

The film is a hilarious and unique chance that borrows from many inspirations to create a perfect one-act but the Coen Brothers could conceive of. And like most of their films, O Brother Where Fine art 1000? is filled with subconscious details.

10 Opening Quote

The pic forgoes the typical narration you might commonly find in a Coen Brothers movie but does start with a quote that reads, "O Muse! Sing in me, and through me tell the story of that homo skilled in the ways of contending, a wanderer, harried for years on end …"

The quote is the opening line from Homer's Odyssey, the story of a warrior's long journey home. The Coen Brothers based this film on the storyline of that epic tale. Though, in typical Coen Brothers manner, they admitted that neither of them has actually read the epic poem and just know information technology through popular civilization.

9 The Title

While Homer'southward Odyssey served as the basis for the overall story structure of the film, the title was taken from some other source. The 1941 moving picture Sullivan's Travels follows a manager who wants to brand a flick that explores the suffering of real-life and attempts to live like the less-fortunate to gain experience. The name of the film he aspires to make is called "O Brother, Where Art M?"

The Coen Brothers' film shares a few similarities with Sullivan's Travels, including a similar scene in which convicts are brought into a theater to lookout man a moving picture.

8 Chain Gang Dirge

The film is filled with all kinds of vivid music from different eras of America, which helps bring the film to life. The first vocal we hear over the opening credits is a chant from a chain gang as they piece of work on the roads.

Remarkably, the chant heard is an actual recording of a chain gang singing the song, "Po Lazarus" in 1959. Fifty-fifty more remarkably, the Coen Brothers were able to track downwardly one member of the chain gang and paid him $xx,000 for employ of the vocal in the flick.

7 Characters From The Odyssey

Though the Coen Brothers might be having a little fun by saying the film is based on Homer's Odyssey, they do include a number of references to the original story. Those who know the epic verse form well volition besides likely see some characters they recognize.

Ulysses Everett McGill obviously stands in for Odysseus, the hero who attempts to return to his married woman who is existence pursued past a suitor. Other characters include Pappy O'Daniel who fills in for Zeus, the i-eyes Large Dan Teague who represents the cyclops, and the three singing girls who lure the heroes, representing the Sirens.

vi Singing Voices

O Brother Where Art G? has the rare stardom of having a soundtrack that has actually become more successful than the movie itself. And the most famous song from this soundtrack is "Man of Constant Sorrow", which is sung in the film by the three lead characters.

Clooney was given the chance to sing the lead vocals on the vocal and took lessons to meliorate his singing voice. In the end, he admits he was not the man for the job and was dubbed. Even so, Tim Blake Nelson does actually provide vocals for his song, "In the Jailhouse At present".

5 Baby Face up Nelson

One of the colorful characters that the trio of heroes encounter is George Nelson, a deranged depository financial institution robber who is depressed at not being taken seriously and having the nickname Babe Confront Nelson.

Baby Confront Nelson was indeed a banking company robber from this era who is responsible for a number of daring crimes. Nonetheless, Nelson was killed in 1935, two years before the events of this picture. Also, he was killed in a shootout with police force rather than executed while in custody, as is said in the film.

4 Cows

Though a fairly simple story, the motion picture was praised for its use of visual effects and CGI. While not overly used in the flick, the few cases are incorporated convincingly into the overall scene. In i instance, it might have been too convincing.

The scenes in which a cop car hits a cow looked and so disarming that the American Humane Association demanded proof that no real animate being was harmed. This also led to a new disclaimer beingness added to the motion-picture show that read, "Scenes which may announced to place an animal in jeopardy were imitation."

3 Tommy Johnson

Another memorable character that the trio of escaped convicts meets upward with is Tommy Johnson, played by Chris Thomas Rex. When the heroes encounter Tommy, he is standing at a crossroads where he says he met the devil and traded his soul for the ability to play the guitar.

Manifestly, there is some truth to the graphic symbol or at least some real-life inspiration. There was a famed blues musician named Tommy Johnson who sold his soul to the devil to play the blues, according to folk fable.

ii Klan Rally

One of the most memorable scenes in the film finds the three heroes sneaking into a Ku Klux Klan rally to relieve their new friend Tommy. The sequence is an elaborate one with a giant burning cross and hundreds of costumed extras.

The scene also features the Klan members performing an unusual formalism march of sorts. Ironically, the march is a military germination and the military troupe hired to dress as Klan members and perform the scene were largely African-American.

1 The Cabin

At the end of the motion picture, the three companions finally reach Everett's motel, which is tucked away in the woods. Some horror fans might have recognized the cabin from an iconic film of the genre.

The Coens modeled the cabin on the one featured prominently in Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead. This is not just a random inclusion, but rather an in-joke with their friend Raimi since Joel Coen worked on The Evil Dead with him.

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Colin McCormick (2045 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In add-on to his piece of work as Screen Bluster, Colin is also a author of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going dorsum to the first time he saw The King of beasts Rex in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-appointment on the latest must-see Telly shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special picture of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humour much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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