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Coen Brothers Working On A Movie About 1960s NYC Folk Scene


By

Jamie Feldmar

Published Jun 27, 2011

Modified Jun 27, 2011


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By

Jamie Feldmar

Published Jun 27, 2011

Modified Jun 27, 2011


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Bob Dylan, Suze Rotolo, Dave van Ronk

Joel and Ethan Coen, beloved auteurs of such fine films as Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and No Country For Old Men, to name a few, are in a New York state of mind for their next film, which focuses on '60s-era Greenwich Village and its burgeoning folk music scene.

The LA Times says the brothers are working on a script loosely based on the life of Dave van Ronk, a "legendary musician who presided over New York's iconoclastic coffeehouse period." van Ronk helped guide the early careers of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and Phil Ochs, amongst others, and posthumously published a memoir titled after his nickname "The Mayor of MacDougal Street."

The Coens said at a Lincoln Center talk earlier this month, "We’re working on a movie now that has music in it [that's] pretty much all performed live, single instrument." There's been no word on casting yet, but fingers crossed for a transgender Dylan cameo (a la Cate Blanchett in I'm Not There.)

In any event, here's a video of van Ronk (who died in 2002) discussing his boho early years in the Village and performing his song "Losers:"

Tagged

bob dylan

coen brothers

dave van ronk

film

folk

greenwich village

macdougal street


Jamie Feldmar

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