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Barton Fink

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Barton Fink
The theatrical poster.
Directed byJoel Coen
Written byJoel and Ethan Coen
Produced byEthan Coen
StarringJohn Turturro
John Goodman
Michael Lerner
Steve Buscemi
Judy Davis
CinematographyRoger Deakins
Edited byRoderick Jaynes
Music byCarter Burwell
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release dates
France May 1991 (Cannes premiere)
United States 21 August, 1991 (limited)
Australia 23 January, 1992
Running time
116 min.
CountryUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9,000,000 (estimated)

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.[1] 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.[2] 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," often perceives Charlie as an irritating intruder.

File:Barton2.jpg
The morning after and the block: Barton Fink.

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, with a single gull pictured flying overhead. 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 suiti. As she turns to look at the ocean, she strikes the same pose as the picture of the girl in his hotel room. The gull squawks and suddenly falls from the sky into the sea, for in the picture of the girl there was no gull. The screen goes black.

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.

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.[3] 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.[3]

W.P. Mayhew is a composite character of 'Lost Generation' novelists William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald, both of whom went to Hollywood to write for the movies, largely out of financial necessity (Fitzgerald, like Mayhew, needed to provide for his disturbed wife's care in mental institutions), only to struggle with a decline in their careers and descent into alcoholism. Faulkner even worked, uncredited, on a Wallace Beery wrestling picture called Flesh.[citation needed]

Fink's bushy haircut resembles that of Henry Spencer from David Lynch's Eraserhead (1977). There are also a number of other elements similar to Eraserhead, such as the style of the hotel, and the loud ambient noise.

Soundtrack

Untitled

As with all the Coen Brothers' films, the score is composed by Carter Burwell. The contemporary classical score is experimental in nature, featuring detuned pianos, typewriters and the sound of running water.

Songs in the film include "For Sentimental Reasons", "Old Black Joe" (sung by John Mahoney's drunken character) and "Down South Camp Meeting". None are featured on a soundtrack album that was released in 1996 by TVT Records, combined with selections from Burwell's score to Fargo.[4]

Track listing

All selections composed by Carter Burwell.

  1. "Fade In" – 1:08
  2. "Big Shoes" – 1:33
  3. "Love Theme from Barton Fink" – 1:21
  4. "Barton In Shock" – 1:58
  5. "Typing Montage" – 2:11
  6. "The Box" – 3:06
  7. "Barton In Flames" – 0:57
  8. "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.

References

  1. ^ Ebert, Roger. Review: Barton Fink. Chicago Sun Times, August 23, 1991. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910823/REVIEWS/108230301/1023
  2. ^ http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19910823/REVIEWS/108230301/1023
  3. ^ a b "A Life in Pictures:The Coen Brothers". BAFTA.org. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |accessdaymonth= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ http://www.soundtrackcollector.com/catalog/soundtrackdetail.php?movieid=45147

External links

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