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52. Barton Fink (1991)
Barton Fink represents the Coen Brothers' cynical and slightly surreal look on Hollywood. The film is both horrific and hilarious and in my opinion it's definitely one of the boldest pictures the Coens have ever done. I'm a big fan of boldness, so it shouldn't be a surprise that this is one of my favorites of theirs.
The Coens wrote this film while suffering writer's block during the writing of Miller's Crossing (which is also one of their very best films, in my opinion) and that's very apparent in this film's plot. They mock their own incapacity to come up with new stuff by writing about that incapacity. The result is a highly original film about a writer who is suddenly unable to perform and who slowly gets drained by the cruel reality that is Hollywood.
After Barton Fink's first New York play on Broadway is a succes, he is contacted by Universal Pictures. They get him a lugubrious hotel chamber where he has to write a screenplay for a film about wrestling. Fink doesn't seem to find the inspiration to get past the first few lines though, and because of his environment he is constantly distracted. While trying to find a solution for his problem, he gets to know the insurance guy who lives next to him in the hotel, he meets up with a famous Hollywood playwright who is constantly drunk and agressive and he gets involved with the writer's personal assistant.
At a certain moment the plot starts taking a few very strange twists. Everything kind of turns into a creepy, but darkly comical Kafkaesque farce, while still holding a haunting resonance. One could say that unexpected 'evil' suddenly starts taking over.
Personally the third act is my favorite part of the film. I like it when filmmakers just decide to do something different for once. Viewers may leave this movie with more questions than answers after a first watch, but after seeing it a few times, I've come up with some own ideas about what's going on and what it all "means". I personally discovered 'truths' in it about society's look on art and creativity, about human pretentiousness, about the harshness of business and life, about acceptance of fate and about "the life of the mind".
"Are you in pictures?"
The final scene of this film is one of my personal favorite cinematic moments of all time! I think I immediately rewatched it 10 times after I first saw this film. It's mainly a clever joke, but in the film's context it becomes so much more. It becomes both comforting and alarming. I love it! It's an extremely satisfying scene and it's proof of the Coen Brothers' genius. I would definitely rank it amongst my top 3 favorite moments in Coen films.
Don't miss the experience of watching this magnificent Palm D'Or winner!
Another fantastic scene of this film.
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Barton Fink represents the Coen Brothers' cynical and slightly surreal look on Hollywood. The film is both horrific and hilarious and in my opinion it's definitely one of the boldest pictures the Coens have ever done. I'm a big fan of boldness, so it shouldn't be a surprise that this is one of my favorites of theirs.
The Coens wrote this film while suffering writer's block during the writing of Miller's Crossing (which is also one of their very best films, in my opinion) and that's very apparent in this film's plot. They mock their own incapacity to come up with new stuff by writing about that incapacity. The result is a highly original film about a writer who is suddenly unable to perform and who slowly gets drained by the cruel reality that is Hollywood.
After Barton Fink's first New York play on Broadway is a succes, he is contacted by Universal Pictures. They get him a lugubrious hotel chamber where he has to write a screenplay for a film about wrestling. Fink doesn't seem to find the inspiration to get past the first few lines though, and because of his environment he is constantly distracted. While trying to find a solution for his problem, he gets to know the insurance guy who lives next to him in the hotel, he meets up with a famous Hollywood playwright who is constantly drunk and agressive and he gets involved with the writer's personal assistant.
At a certain moment the plot starts taking a few very strange twists. Everything kind of turns into a creepy, but darkly comical Kafkaesque farce, while still holding a haunting resonance. One could say that unexpected 'evil' suddenly starts taking over.
Personally the third act is my favorite part of the film. I like it when filmmakers just decide to do something different for once. Viewers may leave this movie with more questions than answers after a first watch, but after seeing it a few times, I've come up with some own ideas about what's going on and what it all "means". I personally discovered 'truths' in it about society's look on art and creativity, about human pretentiousness, about the harshness of business and life, about acceptance of fate and about "the life of the mind".
"Are you in pictures?"
The final scene of this film is one of my personal favorite cinematic moments of all time! I think I immediately rewatched it 10 times after I first saw this film. It's mainly a clever joke, but in the film's context it becomes so much more. It becomes both comforting and alarming. I love it! It's an extremely satisfying scene and it's proof of the Coen Brothers' genius. I would definitely rank it amongst my top 3 favorite moments in Coen films.
Don't miss the experience of watching this magnificent Palm D'Or winner!
Another fantastic scene of this film.
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