In LOVE with Humanity

Hero #097: "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"
Released in 2000, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? is an adventure comedy film
written, produced, edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Set in rural
Mississippi during the Great Depression, the film's story is a modern satire loosely
based on Homer‘s epic poem, The Odyssey. It follows the tale of three verbally
proficient yet intellectually challenged escaped convicts as they simultaneously (and
most metaphorically) run from the authorities while seeking a non-existent buried
treasure. Along the way, of course -- just like the rest of us ultimately will, they end
up rediscovering what life's real Treasure truly is.
Interestingly enough, at least according to Coen brothers, Tim Blake Nelson
(who played Delmar O'Donnell in the film, and who has a degree in Classics from
Brown University) was the only person on the entire movie set who had actually read
Homer's Odyssey in its entirety.
Much of the music used in the film is period folk music, and the truly splendid
soundtrack received much-deserved notoriety after the release of the film. The
movie was also the first to extensively use digital color correction to give the scenes
a sepia-tinted glow.
―You seek a great fortune,
and you will find a fortune,
though it will not be the
fortune you seek. But first --
first you must travel a long
and difficult road; a road
fraught with peril ...
I cannot tell you how long
this road shall be, but fear
not the obstacles in your
path, for Fate has
vouchsafed your reward.
Though the road may
wind, yea, and though your
hearts might grow weary,
still shall ye follow that road,
even unto your salvation.‖
~ Joel & Ethan Coen
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