Does anyone really get it?

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2013)

"ILL" is a film that we could admire. It certainly shows a lovely recreation of a period long gone, and it has a cool soundtrack, but we wonder if by the end of the movie, we really got what just happened. There is some type of odyssey, with enough references by a very talented pair of writers/directors giving us another artsy exploration of a flawed person's life.
In here things just happen, and we're part of an audience who could be driving by a car wreck or a beautiful building, so we respond accordingly. The story's protagonist is certainly having a really difficult time that he seems to bring upon himself. His opinionated and arrogant persona certainly helps him derail whatever opportunity he might have to improve things. It certainly doesn't help that his fate appears to be written. Life appears just to be one messy circle.
There's one big question here: Who is that "gentleman in the hat"? Why is he so aggressive? Is he Llewyn's conscience? Just a figment of the extraordinary imagination the Coens are able to conjure? He is there at a critical moment, and we wonder if we just sat through 90 minutes to understand there is no hope here.
Our "hero" jumps from sofa to sofa seeking help and shelter. He appears to take this for granted and rarely appears grateful. He visits people whom he appears to have wronged and shows little remorse. Even at times when he's given a way out of his mess, he finds a way to ruin the opportunity. We don't get much of a background, but we truly know his black cloud has been around for a while.
The film is hypnotic, as we follow him around time, interacting with people who in one way or another try to tell him that his dream might not happen exactly the way he wants it. There's a mention of his ex-partner, and we wonder what drove Mike to his ultimate fate. A few people manage to remind him what will his "hubris" lead him to. Goodman's physically compromised character is a hoot. He tells us so much with his body language, and his santeria speech is a winner. Then we see the authorities at work, the power of bureaucracy and the simplicity of a poisonous remark. I want to thank the Coens for allowing F. Murray Abraham to use his facial expression and a very minimalistic dialogue to deliver one very effective strike.
As I mentioned before, there is much to admire here, but it's not as good or entertaining as "Oh Brother Where are Thou?" or even the mysterious "The Man Who Wasn't There". Here we are again, seduced by the critical mermaids, and are we being misled like the people who accompanied the mythical Odysseus? Is this tale another illusion or the victim of an illusion created by others?