Everything about Barton Fink totally explained
Barton Fink is a
1991 film by
Joel and Ethan Coen. It tells the story of Barton Fink (
John Turturro), a young, intense, and rather awkward writer of
social realist plays in the early
1940s whose
raison d'être is to "create a theatre of the common man," but who is suffering from
writer's block and has no ability to relate to "the common man."
The film's enigmatic story has been interpreted as an examination of the creative act, a satire on
Hollywood, a
Joseph Campbell-like heroic quest, or even an
allegory for the rise of
Nazism. The Coen brothers themselves remain characteristically tight-lipped on the subject.
Barton Fink won the
Palme d'Or at
Cannes by a unanimous vote, as well as the awards for
Best Director and
Best Actor. It was the only film in the history of that festival to sweep those three honors.
Michael Lerner's portrayal of the egotistic film producer Jack Lipnick was hailed by critics and earned him an
Academy Award nomination for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role. It was also nominated for Academy Awards for
Best Art Direction/Set Decoration and
Best Costume Design the same year.
Synopsis
Barton Fink is a
playwright and
screenwriter loosely based on the 1930s playwright
Clifford Odets. After the success of his
Broadway debut,
Bare Ruined Choirs, Fink relocates from his native
New York to
Los Angeles to work as a contracted writer for Hollywood studio chief Jack Lipnick (
Michael Lerner) of Capitol Pictures, whose character is based on
MGM's Louis B. Mayer. Fink settles in at the decrepit Hotel Earle and sets about trying to start on the script for a
Wallace Beery B-movie about
professional wrestling. However, he feels claustrophobic and develops
writer's block. His jovial neighbor Charlie Meadows (
John Goodman) often drops in to chat with him in the evenings. Barton, though he claims to be fascinated with "the common man," initially perceives Charlie as an irritating intruder.
As Barton strives to overcome his writer's block, he repeatedly gazes at a picture hanging on the hotel room wall of a young woman in a bathing suit on the beach. His producer, Ben Geisler (
Tony Shalhoub) suggests he ask another screenwriter for advice, and Barton runs into W.P. "Bill" Mayhew (
John Mahoney), a critically acclaimed novelist who is now writing for the movies. Barton becomes disillusioned when he learns that Mayhew is an alcoholic, abuses his mistress Audrey (
Judy Davis), and uses Audrey as a
ghostwriter. Late one night, Barton calls Audrey for help; she visits him at his apartment and the two have sex. When Barton wakes up the next morning, he discovers Audrey lying dead in a pool of blood next to him. Charlie offers to help Barton out, telling him not to call the police and cause a scandal, and cleaning up the
crime scene. Charlie then has to leave town for a few days, and gives Barton a package to look after in the meantime.
After Charlie has left, police detectives interview Barton about his relationship with Charlie, who turns out to be a
serial killer, Karl "Madman" Mundt, who decapitates his victims. They have found Audrey's body nearby, but her head is missing.
Barton's writer's block finally lifts, and he quickly writes the screenplay for the wrestling movie. The detectives come to the hotel again to say that Mayhew has also been decapitated and Barton is a suspect. They handcuff Barton to his bed frame, then try to apprehend Charlie, who has just returned. Charlie sets the corridor on fire (seemingly by the force of his rage) and shoots and kills both detectives. He returns to Barton, explains his motivation for his crimes, and frees him. Barton then leaves the hotel, taking the mysterious package and his script.
Lipnick complains that Barton's script is too sensitive and introspective. Moreover, he accuses Barton of having no unique talents as a writer—his most damning indictment. Lipnick vows to keep Barton under contract in a form of
involuntary servitude until he "grows up." In the last scene, Barton wanders to the beach, carrying Charlie's package. He briefly converses with a young woman in a bathing suit. As she turns to look at the ocean, she strikes the same pose as the picture of the girl in his hotel room.
Cast
Origins
The Coens claim the film was inspired by an attack of
writer's block they suffered whilst working on the screenplay for
Miller's Crossing[citationneeded].
The Coens were inspired by
Otto Friedrich's
City of Nets: A Portrait of Hollywood, a book about the history of moviemaking in the '30s and '40s with an emphasis on the many German expatriates in
Los Angeles and the
Jim Thompson novel
A Hell of a Woman, which inspired the theme of the hotel as ghost ship. Barton was based on
Clifford Odets, a
Jewish-American author of leftist plays like
Waiting for Lefty and
Awake and Sing! who went to Hollywood to write screenplays.
Track listing
All selections composed by
Carter Burwell.
"Fade In" – 1:08
"Big Shoes" – 1:33
"Love Theme from Barton Fink" – 1:21
"Barton In Shock" – 1:58
"Typing Montage" – 2:11
"The Box" – 3:06
"Barton In Flames" – 0:57
"Fade Out - The End" – 3:37
- Selections from Barton Fink comprise the final eight tracks on the 24-track CD issued in 1996 by TVT Records; the first 16 tracks are from the Fargo soundtrack.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Barton Fink'.
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