Guillermo del Toro and the Coen Brothers Discuss Inside Llewyn Davis

Inside Llewyn Davis (now out on Blu-ray and DVD), the Coen brothers’ latest odyssey into the more desolate corners of Americana, stars Oscar Isaac in the title role, as an ill-fated musician navigating the Greenwich Village folk scene of the 1960s. (In addition to Isaac’s standout performance, this beautifully simple yet meticulously crafted film also features memorable appearances by Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Adam Driver, and F. Murray Abraham, and showcases a folk soundtrack curated by the great T Bone Burnett.) For our release of the film, filmmaker Guillermo del Toro sat down with writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen for an insightful forty-minute conversation about the evolution of the brothers’ careers and where Inside Llewyn Davis is situated within their filmmaking lineage. In the clip below, the group discusses the nature of authenticity and the comedy inherent in folk music, and why writing a portrait of a successful artist never crossed the Coens’ minds.