Barton Fink

[Protoclown]

Just saw this Coen brothers movie for the first time last night. Good movie, pretty dark humor. Not one of their best films (though putting it up against their other work is stiff competition), but John Tutturro was GREAT in the title role.

Anybody else seen this one?

[Maximum Blob]

I saw Barton Fink a couple of years ago. I'd have to rank it the "worst" of the Coen Brothers movies (you're right about the rest of the ouevre being stiff competition). I am all for idiosyncrasy and thwarting convention and so forth, but this was just so ... bizarre.

I suspected, after watching it, that there was some key I missed. Some subtle signal that said, "The real world stops, and the dream begins, right here." But I couldn't pinpoint it upon re-watching. Are there any theories about this? Any scholarship? I know of at least one university with a course in The Films of the Coens.

My most vivid memory of the movie: I was watching it on video with my brother, and at the very end, one of us said, "Wait -- what the fuck was that? Rewind it! Did a bird just fall into the ocean?!"

[Royal Tenenbaum]

Easily on of the best films they have ever made. I think it probably has the most interesting lead character, the best period setting, and is their most self-conscious work. I really love it.

It's coming to DVD really soon as well. Miller's Crossing and BF next month I think; cheap prices too, like $15 at most.

[ShanghaiOrange]

I love Barton Fink. It's probably my favorite Coen film after the Big Lebowski, although I love them all.
John Goodman running down the fiery hallway is one of the coolest moments in movie history, and both Steve Buscemi's and Tony Shalhoub's cameos are hilarious.

I think the pivotal moment it when he finds out that W.P. Mayhew is a drunk and that his secretary writes his books. When he realizes that, the whole facade of Hollywood falls down for him (just like the wallpaper) and the gentle working man next door is exposed as a psychopathic killer.

Also, the film seems to be about "heads." The decapitations, the head in the box, "where there's a head, there's a way", "the contents of your head belong to Capital Pictures," etc. There are some I'm forgetting. The mosquito, the girl on the beach, and the bird falling into the water are just the Coen's not taking anything seriously a usual, I think.

Anyway, I can't wait for this on DVD.

[Royal Tenenbaum]

The film is pretty much a homage to Herman J. Mankiewicz (Citizen Kane) and George S. Kaufman (most notably of the famed Algonquin Round Table), some of the New Yorkers that headed to Hollywood to make more money. Also, Mayhew's chracter is based on William Faulkner, one of their main influences. The great thing is, Faulker wasn't a drunk, and he wrote all his stuff; this pissed off his fans a lot. To me the film is about how Hollywood and Hell are the same thing, at least to the Coens. They may have changed there minds though, since the next film they're making stars Tom Hanks.

[Protoclown]

I'm still trying to digest the movie and the message behind it, and I think it may need multiple viewings before I really catch everything that's in there. I can definitely agree with the "Hollywood is Hell" idea, that certainly seems to be one of the main messages they were going for. The more I've been thinking about the film after the fact, the more I'm liking it.

I would have to say that "Miller's Crossing" is my favorite film of theirs though...but I still have yet to see "Blood Simple".

[theapportioner]

It's my favorite Coen bros. film too.

[ShanghaiOrange]

There's also a whole theory that it's a allegory for the rise of Nazism. Charlie is Hitler, the two detectives are the Axis (one has a German name, one has an Italian name). There are some other things which I'm forgetting.

[ShanghaiOrange]

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