Is classic literature a common and intentional inspiration for the Coen...

drywall_dan

It is widely accepted that "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a modern retelling of Homer's "Odyssey." I can see some allusions to the Inferno chapters from Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" in the film "Barton Fink". Wiki also cites it as a possible influence. Are these allusions always deliberate? Do the Coen brothers set out to make modern interpretations or homages to classic literature in all, or at least most, of their films?

Originally asked by Leandro Bardelli on Stack Exchange (movies) (CC BY-SA 3.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

This took some hunting, since the Coen Brothers are notoriously interview-shy, but the answer to your question would be No. The Coen Brothers find inspiration from a wide range of sources, more often classic movies than classic literature. From a variety of web-based reviews and sources: Blood Simple - the works of crime fiction writer James M McCain Crimewave - the Three Stooges Raising Arizona - combining influences from Tex Avery cartoons, Sam Raimi horror movies and 1940s B-movies Miller's Crossing - loosely inspried by Dashiell Hammett's The Glass Key Barton Fink - Clifford Odets, William Faulkner The Hudsucker Proxy - the films of Preston Sturges like Christmas in July and Sullivan's...

Full answer by MJ6: https://movies.stackexchange.com/a/10870 (CC BY-SA 3.0).

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