| O Brother, Where Art Thou? | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Joel Coen Ethan Coen[a] |
| Written by |
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| Based on | TheOdyssey byHomer |
| Produced by | Ethan Coen |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Roger Deakins |
| Edited by | |
| Music by | T Bone Burnett |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $26 million[10] |
| Box office | $71.9 million[8] |
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000satiricalcomedy-dramamusical film written, produced, co-edited, and directed byJoel and Ethan Coen. It starsGeorge Clooney,John Turturro, andTim Blake Nelson, withCharles Durning,Michael Badalucco,John Goodman andHolly Hunter in supporting roles.
It follows three escaped convicts searching for hidden treasure while a sheriff relentlessly pursues them. Its story is a modernsatire which, while incorporating social features of theAmerican South, is loosely based onHomer's epicGreek poemThe Odyssey.[11] Some examples of this includeSirens, aCyclops, and the main character's name, "Ulysses", which is the Roman name for "Odysseus".[12] The title of the film is a reference to the 1941Preston Sturges filmSullivan's Travels, in which the protagonist is a director who wants to filmO Brother, Where Art Thou?, a fictitious book about theGreat Depression.[13]
Much of the music used in the film is periodfolk music.[14] The movie was one of the first to extensively use digitalcolor correction to give the film an autumnalsepia-tinted look.[15] It was released byBuena Vista Pictures in North America, whileUniversal Pictures, throughUnited International Pictures, released it in other countries. The film was met with a positive critical reception, and the soundtrack won aGrammy Award for Album of the Year in 2002.[16] The country and folk musicians who weredubbed into the film includeJohn Hartford,Alison Krauss,Dan Tyminski,Emmylou Harris,Gillian Welch,Ralph Stanley,Chris Sharp, andPatty Loveless. They joined to perform the music from the film on theDown from the Mountain concert tour. One of the performances was filmed and released as a documentary.[14][17]
In the summer of 1937, three convicts, Pete, Delmar and leader Ulysses Everett McGill, escape from achain gang to retrieve a buried treasure before the area is flooded to make a lake. The three get a lift from a blind man driving ahandcar on a railroad. He tells them they will find a fortune, but not the one they seek. The trio make their way to the house of Wash, Pete's cousin, who breaks off their shackles and feeds them. They sleep in the barn, but Wash reports them to Sheriff Cooley, who, along with his men, torches the barn. Wash's son helps them escape. The next day, Pete and Delmar get baptized in a river, but Everett refuses to join them.
They pick up Tommy Johnson, a young black man who claims hesold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play the guitar. In need of money, the four stop at a radio station where they record a song as the Soggy Bottom Boys. That night, the trio part ways with Tommy after their car is discovered by the police, and they briefly fall in with outlaw GeorgeBaby Face Nelson whose been robbing and killingcows. Unbeknownst to them, the recording becomes a major hit. George, feeling depressed, gave the trio his cash and walked off.
Near a river, the group hears singing and finds three sultry women washing clothes. The women give themcorn whiskey and they lose consciousness. Upon waking, Delmar finds Pete's clothes lying next to him, empty except for a frog. Delmar is convinced the women wereSirens who transformed Pete into the frog. Later, one-eyed Bible salesman Big Dan invites them for a picnic lunch, then mugs them and kills the frog.
On their way to Everett's hometown, Everett and Delmar see Pete working on a chain gang. They arrive in town where Stokes is hosting a campaign and Everett confronts his wife Penny, who has changed her last name and told his daughters he was "hit by a train". He gets into a fight with Vernon, her new "suitor", and Stokes campaign manager. Later that night, they sneak into Pete's holding cell and free him. As it turns out, the women were undercover bounty hunters who had dragged Pete away and turned him in to the authorities. Under torture, Pete gave away the treasure's location to the police. Everett then confesses that there is no treasure. He made it up to persuade the men with whom he was chained to escape with him in order to stop his wife from getting remarried. Pete is enraged at Everett, because he had two weeks left on his original sentence, and will likely face fifty more years for the escape.
The trio stumble upon aKKK rally, the Klansmen are planning to lynch Tommy. The trio disguise themselves as Klansmen and attempt to rescue Tommy. However, Big Dan, the mugger revealed to be a Klan member, reveals their identities. Chaos ensues, and theGrand Wizard reveals his identity as Homer Stokes, a candidate in the upcoming gubernatorial election. The trio rush Tommy away and cut the supports of a large burning cross, immolating Big Dan.
Everett persuades Pete, Delmar and Tommy to help him win his wife back. They sneak into a Stokes campaign gala dinner which she is attending, disguised ashillbilly musicians. The group begins a performance of their radio hit. The crowd recognizes the song and goes wild. Homer recognizes them as the group who sabotaged the KKK rally. When he demands the group be arrested and reveals hiswhite supremacist views, the crowdruns him out of town on a rail. Pappy O'Daniel, the incumbent candidate, seizes the opportunity, endorses the Soggy Bottom Boys and grants them fullpardons. Penny agrees to remarry Everett with the condition that he find her original ring, all the while, an excited George Nelson was captured and paraded down the street in chains for his execution.
The next morning, the group sets out to retrieve the ring, which is in a cabin in the valley which Everett had previously claimed was the location where his treasure was buried. The deputies, having learned of the place from Pete, arrest the group. Dismissing their claims of having received pardons, Sheriff Cooley orders their hanging. As Everett prays to God, the valley is flooded[f] and they are saved. Tommy finds the ring in a desk that floats by, and they return to town. However, when Everett presents the ring to Penny, it turns out it was her aunt's ring. She declares that she will not marry him with that ring, but only her wedding ring, which is still lost. As the film ends, the blind man on the handcar is seen once more.
Gillian Welch and Dan Tyminski also appear as a record store customer and a mandolinist respectively. Del Pentecost, JR Horne, and Brian Reddy appear as members of Pappy O'Daniel's staff.Ed Gale appears as Homer Stokes' ceremonial "little man".John McConnell cameos as the Woolworth’s manager.Royce D. Applegate cameos as a member of Sheriff Cooley's posse. Three members ofthe Fairfield Four (Isaac Freeman, Wilson Waters Jr, and Robert Hamlett) cameo as gravediggers.The Cox Family andThe Whites appear as fictionalized versions of themselves.
The idea ofO Brother, Where Art Thou? arose spontaneously. Work on the script began in December 1997, long before the start of production, and it was at least half-written by May 1998. Despite the fact that Ethan Coen described theOdyssey as "one of my favorite storyline schemes", neither of the brothers had read the epic, and they were only familiar with its content through adaptations and numerous references to theOdyssey in popular culture.[23] According to the brothers, Tim Blake Nelson (who has a degree in classics fromBrown University)[24][25] was the only person on the set who had read theOdyssey.[26]
The title of the film is a reference to the 1941Preston Sturges filmSullivan's Travels, in which the protagonist (a director) wants to direct a film about theGreat Depression calledO Brother, Where Art Thou?[13] that will be a "commentary on modern conditions, stark realism, and the problems that confront the average man". Lacking any experience in this area, the director sets out on a journey to experience the human suffering of the average man but is sabotaged by his anxious studio. The film has some similarity in tone to Sturges's film, including scenes with prison gangs and a black church choir. The prisoners at the picture show scene is also a direct homage to a nearly identical scene in Sturges's film.[27]
Joel Coen revealed in a 2000 interview that he traveled toPhoenix to offer the lead role to Clooney. Clooney agreed to do the role immediately, without reading the script. He stated that he liked even the Coens' least successful films.[28] Clooney did not immediately understand his character and sent the script to his uncle Jack, who lived in Kentucky, asking him to read the entire script into a tape recorder.[29] Unknown to Clooney, in his recording, Jack, a devoutBaptist, omitted all instances of the words "damn" and "hell" from the Coens' script, which only became known to Clooney after the directors pointed this out to him during shooting.[29]
This was the fourth film of the brothers in whichJohn Turturro has starred. Other actors inO Brother, Where Art Thou? who had worked previously with the Coens includeJohn Goodman (three films),Holly Hunter (two),Charles Durning (two) andMichael Badalucco (one).
The Coens used digitalcolor correction to give the film asepia-tinted look.[15] Joel stated this was because the actual set was "greener than Ireland".[29]CinematographerRoger Deakins said, "Ethan and Joel favored a dry, dusty Delta look with golden sunsets. They wanted it to look like an old hand-tinted picture, with the intensity of colors dictated by the scene and natural skin tones that were all shades of the rainbow."[30] Initially the crew tried to perform the color correction using a physical process, but after several tries with various chemical processes proved unsatisfactory the process was performed digitally.[29]
This was the fifth film collaboration between the Coen Brothers and Deakins, and it was slated to be shot in Mississippi at a time of year when the foliage, grass, trees, and bushes would be a lush green.[30] It was filmed near locations inCanton, Mississippi,[31] andFlorence, South Carolina, in the summer of 1999.[32] After shooting tests, including filmbipack andbleach bypass techniques, Deakins suggested digital mastering be used.[30] Deakins spent 11 weeks fine-tuning the look, mainly targeting the greens, making them a burnt yellow and desaturating the overall image in the digital files.[15] This made it the first feature film to be entirely color corrected by digital means, narrowly beatingNick Park'sChicken Run.[15]O Brother, Where Art Thou? was the first time adigital intermediate was used on the entirety of a first-run Hollywood film that otherwise had very few visual effects. The work was done in Los Angeles byCinesite using aSpirit DataCine for scanning at 2K resolution, a Pandora MegaDef to adjust the color, and aKodak Lightning II recorder to put out to film.[33]
A major theme of the film is the connection betweenold-time music and political campaigning in the American South. It makes reference to the traditions, institutions, and campaign practices ofbossism andpolitical reform that defined Southern politics in the first half of the 20th century.
TheKu Klux Klan, at the time a political force of whitepopulism, is depicted burning crosses and engaging in ceremonial dance. The character Menelaus "Pappy" O'Daniel, the governor of Mississippi and host of the radio showThe Flour Hour, is similar in name and demeanor toW. Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel,[34] one-timeGovernor of Texas and laterU.S. Senator from that state.[35] O'Daniel was in the flour business and used a backing band called theLight Crust Doughboys on his radio show.[36] In one campaign, O'Daniel carried a broom, an oft-used campaign device in the reform era, promising to sweep awaypatronage and corruption.[37] His theme song had the hook, "Please pass the biscuits, Pappy", emphasizing his connection with flour.[36]
While the film borrows from historical politics, there are clear differences between the characters in the film and historical political figures. The O'Daniel of the movie used "You Are My Sunshine" as his theme song (which was originally recorded by singer and Governor of LouisianaJames Houston "Jimmie" Davis[38]), and Homer Stokes, as the challenger to the incumbent O'Daniel, portrays himself as the "reform candidate", using a broom as a prop.
The music was originally conceived as a major component of the film, not merely as a background or a support. Producer and musicianT Bone Burnett worked with the Coens while the script was still in its working phases and the soundtrack was recorded before filming commenced.[39]
Much of the music used in the film is period-specific folk music.[14] The selection also includes religious music suchPrimitive Baptist andtraditional African Americangospel, most notablythe Fairfield Four, ana cappella quartet with a career extending back to 1921. The quartet appears in the soundtrack and as gravediggers towards the film's end. Selected songs in the film reflect the possible spectrum of musical styles typical of the old culture of the American South: gospel,delta blues,country,swing, andbluegrass.[26][40]
The use ofdirges and other macabre songs is a theme that often recurs in Appalachian music[41] ("O Death", "Lonesome Valley", "Angel Band", "I Am Weary") in contrast to bright and cheerful songs ("Keep On the Sunny Side", "In the Highways") in other parts of the film.
The voices of the Soggy Bottom Boys were provided byDan Tyminski (lead vocal on "Man of Constant Sorrow"),Nashville songwriterHarley Allen, and theNashville Bluegrass Band's Pat Enright.[42] The three won aCMA Award for Single of the Year[42] and a Grammy Award forBest Country Collaboration with Vocals, both for the song "Man of Constant Sorrow".[16] Tim Blake Nelson sang the lead vocal on "In the Jailhouse Now".[13] During a cast reunion at the 2020Nashville Film Festival, George Clooney recalled being called into the recording studio and singing despite his lack of talent. It was assumed that he could sing because he was the nephew ofRosemary Clooney. Despite the relation, he could not.[43]
"Man of Constant Sorrow" has five variations: two are used in the film, one in the music video, and two in the soundtrack album. Two of the variations feature the verses being sung back-to-back, and the other three variations feature additional music between each verse.[44] Though the song received little significant radio airplay, it reached #35 on the U.S.BillboardHot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 2002.[39][45] The version of "I'll Fly Away" heard in the film is performed not by Krauss and Welch (as it is on the CD and concert tour), but by theKossoy Sisters withErik Darling accompanying on long-neck five-string banjo, recorded in 1956 for the albumBowling Green onTradition Records.[46]
The film premiered at theCannes Film Festival on May 13, 2000, the United Kingdom on September 15, 2000, and the United States on December 22, 2000.[3][47] It grossed $71,868,327 worldwide on a $26 million budget.[8][10]
The review aggregation websiteRotten Tomatoes reports that 78% of reviews critics are positive based on 158 reviews with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Though not as good as Coen brothers' classics, the delightfully loopyO Brother, Where Art Thou? is still a lot of fun."[48]Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average, gave it a score of 69 out of 100 based on 30 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[49] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.[50]
Roger Ebert gave two and a half out of four stars to the film, saying all the scenes in the film were "wonderful in their different ways, and yet I left the movie uncertain and unsatisfied."[51]
In 2021, members ofWriters Guild of America West (WGAW) andWriters Guild of America, East (WGAE) voted the film's screenplay 99th in WGA’s 101 Greatest Screenplays of the 21st Century (so far).[52][53] In 2025, it ranked number 76 onThe New York Times' list of "The 100 Best Movies of the 21st Century" and number 66 on the "Readers' Choice" edition of the list.[54][55]
The film was selected to be part of the main competition of the2000 Cannes Film Festival.[9]
The Soggy Bottom Boys are the fictional musical group that the main characters form as part of the plot; their songs also serve as accompaniment for the film. It has been suggested that the name is in homage to theFoggy Mountain Boys, abluegrass band led byLester Flatt andEarl Scruggs.[64] In the film, the actorslip-synched the songs credited to the band, except forTim Blake Nelson's own voice on "In the Jailhouse Now".
The band's hit single isDick Burnett's "Man of Constant Sorrow", a song that had enjoyed much success prior to the movie's release.[65] After the film's release, the fictitious band became so popular that the country and folk musicians whose performances are heard on the film got together for a concert tour calledDown from the Mountain, which was filmed for TV and DVD.[14] They includedRalph Stanley,John Hartford,Alison Krauss and Union Station,Emmylou Harris,Gillian Welch,Chris Sharp, Stun Seymour,Dan Tyminski and others.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)Many cultural and political historians think the character Gov. Menelaus "Pappy" O'Daniel of Mississippi is based on the notorious Texas politician, Wilbert Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel.
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