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Theatrical release poster
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is a 2000 comedy-drama film written, produced, co-edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars George Clooney, John Turturro, and Tim Blake Nelson, with Chris Thomas King, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Charles Durning in supporting roles.
The film is set in rural Mississippi during the 1930s, and it follows three escaped convicts searching for hidden treasure while a sheriff relentlessly pursues them. Its story is a modern satire which, while incorporating social features of the American South, is loosely based on Homer's epic Greek poem the Odyssey. Some examples of this include Sirens, a Cyclops, and the main character's name, "Ulysses", which is the Roman name for "Odysseus". The title of the film is a reference to the Preston Sturges 1941 film Sullivan's Travels, in which the protagonist is a director who wants to film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, a fictitious book about the Great Depression.
Plot[]
Opening[]
In 1937 Mississippi, a chain gang line sings Po Lazarus while smashing rocks.
Act One[]
Three convicts, Everett, Pete, and Delmar, escape the chain gang undetected. They attempt (and fail) to board a moving train, before coming across a blind man driving a handcar, and hitching a ride with him. The blind man tell them that he knows they seek a great treasure, and that they will get a treasure, but not the one they seek.
The three take shelter in the house of Wash, Pete's cousin. But while they sleep in the barn, Wash reports them to Sheriff Cooley. The authorities arrive and torch the barn. Wash's son arrives in a car and helps them escape.
Act Two[]
The car breaks down, and the three send Wash's son home. They discuss selling a valuable that Everett snatched from Wash's home, when they come across a baptism congregation. Pete and Delmar participate in it, which Everett mocks them for. While on the road, they pick up Tommy Johnson, a young black man who claims he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the ability to play guitar. In need of money, the four stop at a radio broadcast tower where they record the song "I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow" as the Soggy Bottom Boys. That night, the trio part ways with Tommy after their car is discovered by the police, and they briefly fall in with outlaw Baby Face Nelson. Unbeknownst to them, the recording of the song becomes a major hit.
Near a river, the group hears singing. They see three women washing clothes and singing. The women drug them with corn whiskey and they lose consciousness. Upon waking, Delmar finds Pete's clothes lying next to him, empty except for a toad. Delmar is convinced the women were Sirens and transformed Pete into the toad. Later, they encounter one-eyed Bible salesman Big Dan, who invites them for a picnic lunch, then mugs them and kills the toad.
Act Three[]
On their way to Everett's home town, Everett and Delmar see Pete working on a chain gang. Upon arriving Everett confronts his wife Penny, who changed her last name and told his daughters he was dead. He gets into a fight with Vernon, her new "suitor". Later that night, they sneak into Pete's holding cell and free him. As it turns out, the women had dragged Pete away and turned him in to the authorities. Under torture, Pete gave away the treasure's location to the police. Everett then confesses that there is no treasure. He made it up to convince the guys he was chained with to escape with him in order to stop his wife from getting married. Pete is enraged at Everett, because he had two weeks left on his original sentence, and will likely face fifty more years for the escape.
The trio stumble upon Ku Klux Klan rally, who are planning to lynch Tommy. The trio disguise themselves as Klansmen and move to rescue Tommy. However, Big Dan, a Klan member, reveals their identities. Chaos ensues, and the Grand Wizard reveals himself as Homer Stokes, a candidate in the upcoming gubernatorial election. The trio rush Tommy away and cut the supports of a large burning cross, immolating Big Dan.
Act Four[]
Everett convinces Pete, Delmar and Tommy to help him win his wife back. They sneak into a Stokes campaign gala dinner she is attending, disguised as musicians. The group begins a performance of their radio hit. The crowd recognizes the song and goes wild. Homer recognizes them as the group who humiliated his mob. When he demands the group be arrested and reveals his white supremacist views, the crowd runs him out of town on a rail. Pappy O'Daniel, the incumbent candidate, seizes the opportunity, endorses the Soggy Bottom Boys and grants them full pardons. Penny agrees to marry Everett with the condition that he find her original ring.
The next morning, the group sets out to retrieve the ring, which is at a cabin in the valley which Everett had earlier claimed was the location of his treasure. The police, having learned of the place from Pete, arrest the group. Dismissing their claims of having received pardons, Sheriff Cooley orders them hanged. As Everett prays to God, the valley is flooded and they are saved. Tommy finds the ring in a desk that floats by, and they return to town.
Epilogue[]
However, when Everett presents the ring to Penny, it turns out it was her aunt's ring. She declares that she will not marry him with that ring, but only her wedding ring which is still lost.