February 2, 2001

In the Coen Brothers' New Film, the Dark, Utopian Music of the American South

By MARTIN HARRIES

The subject of the Coen brothers' movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? is authenticity and what a tricky thing authenticity is. So it is no surprise that the filmmakers give their audience a somewhat misleading set of authentication papers. The film, directed by Joel Coen and written by Ethan, announces its debts to certain sources right up front. But are these the most important ones? The more loudly the film announces a source, it seems, the less telling that source is.

To declare a

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