O Brother, Where Art Thou?
They have a plan, but not a clue.
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
Production
Budget
$26 000 000
Revenue
$71 877 090
Director
Scenario
Homer
Author
Composer
Producer
Actors
George Clooney
Everett
John Turturro
Pete Hogwallop
Tim Blake Nelson
Delmar O'Donnell
John Goodman
Big Dan Teague
Holly Hunter
Penny
Chris Thomas King
Tommy Johnson
Charles Durning
Pappy O'Daniel
Del Pentecost
Junior O'Daniel
Short description
During the Great Depression, three chained convicts break out of a Mississippi prison farm. Their leader, smooth-talking Ulysses Everett McGill, tells his two companions he has buried a fortune from an armored-car robbery, and that a new hydroelectric dam will soon flood the site. Eager to reach the money before it is lost, gullible Delmar and perpetually grumbling Pete follow him across the rural South, unaware of what Everett is really after. A determined lawman named Cooley trails the trio throughout their journey.
Set in the 1930s and loosely inspired by Homer's Odyssey, the film was written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, who also produced it. It is the eighth feature on which the brothers are credited as directors, following The Big Lebowski and preceding The Man Who Wasn't There. George Clooney plays Everett, with John Turturro as Pete, Tim Blake Nelson as Delmar, John Goodman as Big Dan Teague, Holly Hunter as Penny, and Chris Thomas King as the guitarist Tommy Johnson, across a credited cast of 46 and a crew of 212.
Made for about 26 million US dollars and released in August 2000, it earned roughly 72 million worldwide. It holds a 7.7 on IMDb from 350,000 votes and a 7.3 on TMDB from 4,759, while a film critics' rating stands at 7.8 from 156 reviews. The film was shot in the United Kingdom, the United States and France.
What's left behind the scenes
- The music in the film was originally conceived as a full-fledged element of the action, not just background accompaniment. That is why the unusual decision was made to record the soundtrack before filming began, and musician T-Bone Burnett was invited to the project to select music even before the script was finished.
- The film is set during the preparations for the Mississippi gubernatorial election, which is accompanied by campaigning by two main candidates. Menelaus “Pappy” O’Daniel, the incumbent governor running for a second term, has a real-life prototype in the history of the American South. This is Wilbert Lee “Pappy” O’Daniel, governor of Texas from 1939–1941 and later a senator from the same state. This politician was known for hosting a radio show and hiring a musical group to perform in his support (as does Menelaus O’Daniel in the film). However, the real O’Daniel, unlike the fictional O’Daniel from the film, promised reforms in his campaign (promises that are made by his opponent, Homer Stokes, in the film). The main song of Wilbert Lee O’Daniel’s campaign was “Please pass the biscuits, Pappy”; Menelaus O’Daniel uses “You Are My Sunshine” for this purpose in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, which is actually associated with its author, Louisiana governor and musician Jimmy Davis.
- “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” was filmed over three summer months in 1999 (from June 7th to August 23rd) because the Coens and cinematographer Roger Deakins needed a specific color of grass and foliage. Location scenes were shot in Mississippi, where the film is set. Filming took place in places such as Canton, Jackson, Valley Park, Vicksburg, and Yazoo City.
- The Coen brothers personally came to Phoenix, where 'Three Kings' was being filmed at the time, to offer Clooney the role.
- An animal rights organization mistakenly believed a computer-generated cow was real and demanded proof to the contrary so the filmmakers could obtain permission to include the traditional phrase in the credits: "No animals were harmed in the making of this film." After learning about the technology used to create the computer-generated cow, the animal welfare association added another (then very rare) phrase: "Scenes depicting harm to animals are simulated."
- George Nelson, played by Michael Badalucco, hates cows so much that he shoots them with a rifle. In the film 'Mac' (1992), in which Badalucco also starred, his character loves cows.
- The scene where Ulysses, Pete, and Delmar find themselves at a Ku Klux Klan gathering mimics a similar episode from 'The Wizard of Oz,' where the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion infiltrate the Wicked Witch's castle.
- The film's soundtrack was very successful. By early 2001, 5 million albums with the soundtrack recording had been sold. It topped the Billboard charts several times. A documentary film was made based on it, two concert tours were held, and three sequel albums were released. In addition, this soundtrack won two awards for achievements in country music (for best album and best single), as well as five Grammy Awards (including best soundtrack of the year).
- The entire film was digitally processed on a computer. This process took several weeks. It was the first time this technology had been used in Hollywood.
- George Clooney practiced vocal skills for several weeks, but in the end, another person sang for him in the film.
- George Clooney agreed to the role without reading the script.
- The title is taken from Preston Sturges's film "Sullivan's Travels" (1941), whose character wants to make a film called "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
- Tommy Johnson was based on the famous blues guitarist Robert Leroy Johnson, who, according to popular legend, sold his soul to the devil to gain talent. A contemporary and namesake of his wrote a song based on this legend.
- A gangster named George Nelson actually existed. In "Oh, Where Have You Been, Brother?", the three main characters encounter a half-mad bank robber known by that name. The real Nelson (his real name was Lester Joseph Gillis) was indeed nicknamed “Baby Face” for his short stature and childlike features and was known for his volatile temper. By 1937, when the film takes place, he had been dead for three years.
- Since the film’s characters are Southerners, it was necessary to convey the specific accent characteristic of residents of the southern states. George Clooney, originally from Lexington, Kentucky, sent the script to his uncle Jack, a farmer from the same state, so that he could read Everett’s lines onto a tape recorder. The actor used the resulting recording in his work on the film.
- Many of the actors featured in this film appeared in similar roles in other films by the Coen brothers: John Turturro also begged for mercy in the woods ("Miller's Crossing", 1990); John Goodman played the same kind of repulsive businessman ("Barton Fink", 1991); Charles Durning similarly lectured his subordinates ("The Hudsucker Proxy", 1994), Michael Badalucco previously appeared as a bank robber ("Miller's Crossing"), and Holly Hunter, who played the mother of seven children, played a barren woman in "Raising Arizona" (1987).
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