MovieChat Forums > Inside Llewyn Davis (2014) Discussion > You all overlooked the main story. Expla...

You all overlooked the main story. Explanation here.

posted 9 years ago by Eraserhead89
25 replies | jump to latest

First of all sorry for my english.
I am surprised that most of people overlooked maybe the main story of the movie. Dealing with death of the partner and finding your own voice. Cat represents Mike.
In first scene he puts on old record which he recorded with Mike. Cat gets out and he must carry it around. He is carrying around cat/Mike all the time whenever he goes. He lost the cat and bring the other one. His emotions to Mike are not in the right place. He didnt deal with his loss. Bud Grossman said to him that he must get together with a partner. He was not a solo act at that point. He still had his partner in his mind. While driving from Bud he saw the bridge where Mike killed himself and then ran over the cat. He had a feeling that he hurt memory of Mike by trying to successed alone. When he gets to Mike's parents house cat is there. Llewyn gave up on music career so his memory of Mike is again there unintact. They told him the name of the cat. At this moment he lets go. The memory of him belongs in Mike's parents house. At the end he doesnt let cat/Mike out of apartment and sing a song that Mike wrote. He doesnt carry him around anymore. He finally accept it. He is a solo act.
Coens are trying to tell that acting one way will get you the same results in life. Thats way there all seem like a loop. But when you learn something this "loop" can get a little different everytime. In this loop he resolves loss of Mike. He still have issues like being a jerk and not connecting with people thinking he is more than others or sleeping with girls that he shouldnt. That explains second pregnancy. That "loop" happened before and he didnt learn enough. Thats why he repeat it. This time around he learned that previous women didnt do a abortion. Now he must know that Jane probably wouldnt do a abortion. This things will be resolved in next "loops".

Story is very complex and its dealing with alot of stuff. I saw movie only once so I am sure I miss things and maybe not explain all cat/mike story right but I am pretty sure that cat represents Llewyn emotions towards Mike. I think I explain meaning of a "loop" right too..

[–] KidKronik 9 years ago

I like your interpretation. The use of the cat as a symbol reminds me a bit of The Long Goodbye. In that movie the cat also seems to represent one of the main character's friends. I'm sure the Coens are fans of that movie as it has to be a huge inspiration for another of their movies, The Big Lebowski.

[–] hannahrose313 8 years ago

Yup, they're definitely obsessed....and rightfully so...its amazing movie!

[–] remco_halderhooter 9 years ago

Brilliant!

[–] Eraserhead89 9 years ago

Thanks :).

[–] clemato 9 years ago

Best interpretation yet. Bravo!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] HannahToucan248 9 years ago

What is your interpretation? I agree that this was not my initial interpretation either, but the cat metaphor can be perceived in a number of ways.

[–] Gus-69 9 years ago

Makes total sense. Hadn't thought of the film that way. Thanks for sharing.

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[–] bpn1 9 years ago

I think this movie has many interpretations and certainly like this one. However, maybe I missed something, but do they say at some point that the Gorfien's are Mike's parents? I never got that sense, I always thought they were just friends with Llewyn in order to feel like they're hip.

[–] clovenhoof 9 years ago

Watching the movie a second time last night, when Llewyn freaks out on Mrs. Gorfien at the dinner party, she says as she leaves that she'll be in "his room". It isn't really clearly addressed, but I take it from that that Mike was their son who, like everyone else, took an Anglicized name.

But otherwise, I think basically everyone loved Mike, and Llewyn was friends with them through him, and remains friends with them almost by proxy.

[–] RedManley 9 years ago

I have read similar loop theories before, and I like them, yours included. I do not think the Gorfeins are Mike's parents. They are just fans of folk music (even though they never seem to go to actual shows)

In fact, I think the Gorfeins represent a lot of what Llewyn hates about folk music, the posturing and the fakeness of it all. They love having "folk singer friends" and showing them off to their uptown party guests, but they are really not "real"

They are however, there for him when no one else is, and he knows they will always take him in, like a lost cat. And they know it too. They mention that they are his "last resort" when he shows at the end.

I'm not sure the cat represents Mike as much as it represents Llewyn, even the line "Llewyn is the cat" points to this.

Love this movie, and it gets deeper and deeper each time I watch it.

[–] HannahToucan248 9 years ago

This is a really interesting interpretation of it. I have never thought of the cat in this light. Yet, I don't quite agree with it.

I think the line "Llewyn is the cat" is really important to note. The Coens use this line to speak to the audience. At this point, they are trying to tell the audience that the cat is a metaphor and not just a funny add on to the film.

But the cat is not strictly Llewyn. It is an idealized version of Llewyn and a representation of Llewyn's journey. Towards the beginning of the film, Llewyn passes a poster for The Incredible Journey, which is about animals that make the long trek home after a harsh journey. This shows the experience of both the cat and Llewyn. Both end up in the same place they started. For Llewyn, this is the Gaslight cafe. The cat, however, winds up in Llewyn's ideal situation. The cat is among people who he (the cat) knows love him. He is home. This is Llewyn's ideal. Llewyn wants to be among people who love him, namingly fans. The cat gets that in his own way, whereas Llewyn does not. In this way, the cat is an idealized version of Llewyn.

Another important thing to note is how the cat comes back to the Gorfiens. Llewyn loses the cat (much like how Llewyn has lost himself and his path) and he thinks he hits the cat. But yet, the cat seems to magically end up back at the Gorfiens. This is the only potential spark of good luck for Llewyn. Llewyn is constantly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Everything seems to be bad luck for him (like when he goes through all this grief, and somehow lands his foot in a puddle to now look a mess before he performs The Death of Queen Jane). A lot of his bad experiences are made up of both happenstance and his own wrongdoing. And in all the other ways, his wrongdoing ends up badly. But in the case of the cat, who he was responsible for letting out, happenstance serves him well. It was extremely good luck that the cat ended up at the Gorfiens, but this may be the tiny glimmer of hope that there is for Llewyn.

I could go on for ages, but I believe that's enough about the cat from me. I'd be interested to hear if you can poke holes in this theory as well. Your Mike theory seems pretty flawless to me, regardless of whether or not I agree with it.

Thoughts?

[–] Bince_19 9 years ago

I think the OP's theories about what the cat(s) represent in terms of insight into the nature of the character Llewyn have merit. However, I take umbrage with your claim about Llewyn seeing the bridge where Mike killed himself while driving back to NYC from Chicago. Was he not looking at the turn-off to Akron, Ohio where presumably his baby resides?

[–] lisasetser0409 9 years ago

Llewyn didn't almost hit the Gorfien's cat. He thought he'd almost hit the "wrong" cat that he found and thought was the Gorfien's cat. The Gorfien's real cat actually returns on his own. I think its returning on its own, in Llewyn's mind, takes the responsibility of Mike being gone away from Llewyn, for which he feels guilty.

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