The Coen Brothers have one of the almost diverse filmographies of whatever filmmakers and O Brother, Where Fine art Yard? is another crowning jewel in their brilliant body of work. The film stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson every bit a trio of escaped convicts searching for a subconscious treasure across Depression Era Mississippi.

The film is a hilarious and unique risk that borrows from many inspirations to create a perfect one-act only the Coen Brothers could conceive of. And like most of their films, O Brother Where Art K? is filled with hidden details.

ten Opening Quote

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

The quote is the opening line from Homer'south Odyssey, the story of a warrior's long journey home. The Coen Brothers based this movie on the storyline of that epic tale. Though, in typical Coen Brothers fashion, they admitted that neither of them has actually read the epic poem and but know it through popular culture.

ix The Championship

While Homer'south Odyssey served every bit the basis for the overall story structure of the film, the title was taken from another source. The 1941 pic Sullivan's Travels follows a managing director who wants to make a movie that explores the suffering of existent-life and attempts to alive similar the less-fortunate to proceeds experience. The name of the film he aspires to make is called "O Blood brother, Where Art Thou?"

The Coen Brothers' movie shares a few similarities with Sullivan'due south Travels, including a like scene in which convicts are brought into a theater to watch a pic.

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 commencement song we hear over the opening credits is a chant from a chain gang as they work on the roads.

Remarkably, the chant heard is an actual recording of a chain gang singing the vocal, "Po Lazarus" in 1959. Even more remarkably, the Coen Brothers were able to runway downward ane fellow member of the chain gang and paid him $20,000 for use of the song in the film.

7 Characters From The Odyssey

Though the Coen Brothers might exist having a little fun past saying the film is based on Homer'southward Odyssey, they do include a number of references to the original story. Those who know the epic verse form well will also likely meet some characters they recognize.

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

6 Singing Voices

O Brother Where Art Thou? has the rare distinction of having a soundtrack that has really become more successful than the flick itself. And the most famous vocal from this soundtrack is "Man of Constant Sorrow", which is sung in the picture past the three lead characters.

Clooney was given the chance to sing the lead vocals on the song and took lessons to improve his singing voice. In the end, he admits he was not the human being for the job and was dubbed. However, Tim Blake Nelson does really provide vocals for his song, "In the Jailhouse Now".

5 Baby Confront Nelson

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

Babe Face Nelson was indeed a depository financial institution robber from this era who is responsible for a number of daring crimes. Withal, Nelson was killed in 1935, ii years earlier the events of this picture. As well, he was killed in a shootout with police rather than executed while in custody, as is said in the flick.

4 Cows

Though a adequately elementary story, the film was praised for its use of visual furnishings and CGI. While not overly used in the film, the few cases are incorporated convincingly into the overall scene. In ane instance, it might have been too disarming.

The scenes in which a cop car hits a cow looked so disarming that the American Humane Association demanded proof that no existent beast was harmed. This also led to a new disclaimer being added to the moving-picture show that read, "Scenes which may appear to place an fauna in jeopardy were faux."

three Tommy Johnson

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

Apparently, at that place is some truth to the character or at to the lowest degree some real-life inspiration. There was a famed blues musician named Tommy Johnson who sold his soul to the devil to play the blues, co-ordinate to folk legend.

2 Klan Rally

I of the most memorable scenes in the picture show finds the three heroes sneaking into a Ku Klux Klan rally to salve their new friend Tommy. The sequence is an elaborate one with a giant called-for cross and hundreds of costumed extras.

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

ane The Motel

At the stop of the film, the three companions finally reach Everett's cabin, 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 i 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 (2050 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work every bit Screen Rant, Colin is besides a author of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-encounter Tv set shows. While he loves to discover interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a fiddling dark sense of humour much similar the work of his favorite writer, Elmore Leonard.

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