Film critique: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

 

Answer the following questions:

1. Describe each of the three main characters. What are they really looking for?

2. What are the issues facing Americans in O Brother, Where Art Thou?? How do they relate to the social themes of today?

3. Why do you think Delmar rushed into the river to be baptized?

4. In the car after they have picked up Tommy Johnson, who tells them that he has sold his soul to the devil, Everett points out that he is the only one there who is not 'affiliated'. What is his attitude to faith? How would you describe his outlook on life?

5. What might be the purpose of the man on the flat car at the beginning and the end of the film?

6. How is the story resolved? Do the heroes find the treasure they're looking for? What do you think happens to Pete and Delmar? Has Everett reformed?

7. At the robbery, Delmar says that it was so much fun, he almost wished he hadn't been saved. What does he mean? Is he really saved?

8. According to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, what kinds of people have faith (taking all representations into account)? Is there any truth in these examples? How do they compare to people and their lives today? How do the assumptions made in this film challenge our ideas about faith?

9. How did you feel when Soggy Bottom finally performed their hit at the reception? The crowd is very quick to defend the escaped convicts when Homer Stokes attacks them. Why do you think this is? Do they really forgive them for their crimes?

10. 'They flirt constantly with genre while effortlessly conveying a manifest affinity for classic cinema and a playful post-modern sensibility.' (Empire, October 2000) What are the post-modern characteristics of O Brother, Where Art Thou?? How does a period film succeed in appealing to a 21st century audience?