Tag Archive: Mozart


INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS – FAME, FAILURE AND FOLK MUSIC

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February 10, 2014

INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS directed by Ethan & Joel Coen (USA, 2013)

Dave Van Ronk is to Bob Dylan what Antonio Salieri was to Mozart. Salieri was popular during his lifetime but his music is rarely performed now.

Van Ronk was a prominent performer in the Greenwich Village during the 1960s but is not so widely known now. Mozart’s genius is now taken for granted and despite having “a voice like sand and glue” (to borrow David Bowie’s words) Dylan is the most influential singer songwriter of all time.

Van Ronk had a pretty good voice, some decent songs but, until now, has been confined to a footnote in the folk history books; a nearly man popular only among purists. Ironically, his standing may now be reassessed following the Coen Brothers movie even though this is not billed as a bio-pic and the depiction of a struggling artist is far from glamorous. Continue reading →

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THE KING SINGS AND SPEAKS

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February 1, 2011

"G...g.got anything by The Sex Pistols?"

The Royal Family must be very chuffed with the success of The King’s Speech. It shows the Queen’s Mom and Dad in a most humane light and even a committed anti-royalist like me was moved by George VI’s battle to overcome the debilitating stammer.

Needless to say Colin Firth is faultless in this role and if he doesn’t win the Oscar for this there is no justice. His double act with the equally sublime Geoffrey Rush as his speech therapist Lionel Logue is what makes the movie.

Tom Hooper’s direction doesn’t have to be flashy – he just has to make sure nothing draws the attention too far from these central performances. Thankfully he succeeds.

The music too, cannot be too fussy or overwhelming. Alexandre Desplat , is a solid and conservative choice to provide the soundtrack. Continue reading →

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