INTERVIEW WITH OSCAR ISAAC

Loosely based on the memoirs of real-life folk singer Dave Van Ronk, Inside Llewyn Davis is an affecting tale of frustration. Set against the backdrop of the Greenwich Village folk scene in 1961, this sombre comedy follows the misfortunes of a struggling, yet agonisingly talented singer-songwriter played by Oscar Isaac.

Having won the Grand Prix at Cannes last May, some say this is Joel and Ethan Coen’s best film yet: Oscar’s standout performance is being commended the world over. Rightly so, we’ll add.

The story, which spans a week, doesn’t sugarcoat or embellish life as a struggling artist. This is an all-too-familiar portrayal of real life, and it is this familiarity that renders it so comic at times. We see failure. We feel the agony of missed opportunities. And we meet some highly entertaining eccentrics along the way.

The irony of it all is that Llewyn’s talent is exceptional, yet he can’t catch a break. Is he just luckless? Pore over reviews of the Coens’ canon and you’ll find them scattered with the words ‘hapless hero’. The directors have at times been described as having ‘tortured’ their protagonists: A Serious Man’s Larry Gopnik, Jeff Lebowski... Are they torturing Llewyn? Is Llewyn hapless or self-destructive? We sat down with Oscar and asked him what he thought: “I think both. I think he both wants to succeed and also wants to fail, in equal measure [...] I think that he has some self destructive tendencies but I think also he’s running into a lot of bad luck as well, and those two things are coming together in such a way that it’s making life impossible (for him) right now.”

The mood and imagery evoke an accurate image of a contemporary New York and the wintry grey palette is said to intentionally reference the cover of The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. Yet this is a New York pre-Dylan.

It is Llewyn’s frustration at the world and most of the people in it that enriches the humour. He’s stubborn. He is very sullen – so much so that it is very funny. This is subtle comedy at its finest: uncomplicated and effective. The comedic timing, absurd imagery and witty dialogue are flawless. Random, highly amusing scenarios are priceless, such as when Llewyn carries a ginger cat across most of New York, or when he arrives at two front doors which face each other in a hallway that is so narrow it is beyond ridiculous. Then of course there is John Goodman’s backchat as the gasbag Roland when Llewyn takes a trip to Chicago...

This is an extract from an interview/review first published on 02 March 2014 on hungertv.com.

interview with lykke li

Once upon a time, given her admittedly ‘girlish’ voice, some were quick to call Lykke Li ‘cutesy’. Not only was this an inaccurate description of the 28-year-old singer-songwriter in my opinion, but also an over-simplified one that ignored Li’s unique and complex character. Li is fearless, feisty and completely uncompromising, with an emotional awareness so acute, that it’s nothing but empowering.

“I think the bravest thing you can be is open and vulnerable – it’s way harder to do that than close everything off. I think it’s a very powerful and strong state to be in: to allow yourself to be so vulnerable.”

Billed as the third instalment in her ‘trilogy’ of albums – following on from her 2008 debut, Youth Novels and its 2011 follow-up, Wounded Rhymes – I Never Learn, reveals raw, sincere emotion. It’s worth noting, Li hasn’t dramatised her life in order to source content for the sake of sales, no, she’s tapped into her ongoing “inner war”, and the result is nine affecting tracks of overwhelming honesty.

“I knew that I wanted to shy away from gimmicks. No tricks, you know? Essentially I wanted it to be just my beating heart and me. That’s it. That’s what I’ve been on the search for.”

The starkness of the emotion that the album communicates is incredibly impactful, so much so that one wonders whether she feels vulnerable revealing so much of herself?

“No, when I’m making an album I never keep that in mind, that anyone is going to listen to it. I simply make what I have to for myself and in response to what I’m feeling. It’s only now I’m conscious of the fact you’ve heard it. It’s now that I should be worried about how people are going to react to it. But when you’re making it, you can’t think about that. That would totally freeze you up.”

It’s evident that first and foremost Li is an artist (across multiple disciplines I’ll add), who is hell-bent on staying true to herself; she is not a manufactured product of music industry fat cats like some of her pop star peers. In fact, she doesn’t even know what the music industry is; she’s not “ever a part of it” she says. Does she ever wish she were more involved?

“Clearly it’s not for me. I write my own music and I run my own shit and I would never be able to handle anyone telling me what to do, how to look, how to speak, how to sell records.” Is that how she sees it, restricting? “It’s a machine. That’s what it is.” That said, she loves LA: “It gives me more hope and more freedom and more light. I love being there.”

This is an extract from an interview that was first published on 14 May 2014 on hungertv.com.

game of thrones: john bradley

It’s made what, until quite recently, was considered a pretty niche and “geeky” genre mainstream, and last month it was reported that the fantasy epic Game of Thrones is still the most pirated show on the planet (a title it’s held for a few years now).

Actor John Bradley, aka Jon Snow’s right-hand man Samwell Tarly, has been in Game of Thrones from day one (episode 1.4 to be precise), making him quite a rarity. A brutal tale of survival, most of the major characters have since been decapitated, slaughtered or left lifeless, purple and blood-covered.

The fanaticism that surrounds both the show and the original novels (George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire) is immense – think cosplay-embracing Comic Con goers and diehard followers. And while John claims he doesn’t see many Sams at the annual convention (“they wouldn’t be able to survive in that costume in San Diego!”), he without doubt plays one of the most iconic characters on TV.

Part of the show’s mammoth appeal is due, in large part, to the credibility of the Game of Thrones world, despite it being far removed from our own reality. Although viewers label the show ‘medieval fantasy’, as John states, “it is not set on planet earth in medieval times, it’s a world of its own. I think it’s important that people believe that”. Part of what makes this world so believable, are the characters that inhabit it. Complex, flawed, morally misguided; Game of Thrones depicts a spectrum of humanity; individuals who we pity one minute, and downright despise the next.

Predominantly a British cast, the show has introduced a multitude of talent to a very receptive global audience. While the show features some of the best vets around, it’s also been a remarkable platform for championing British newcomers; John himself graduated from Manchester School of Drama less than a year ahead of the first episode premiering in April 2011.

This is an extract from an interview which was first published on 23 May 2014 on hungertv.com.