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Submitted by cinemascope on Fri, 2006-03-31 11:13. :: Classic
Movie title:
Barton Fink
Starring:
John Turturro, John Goodman, Judy Davis, John Mahoney, Michael Lerner
Directed by:
Joel Coen
Written by:
Joel & Ethan Coen
Genre:
Drama/Thriller/Comedy
Year:
1991
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Runtime:
116 minutes
Media:
Region 1 DVD (Region 2 only available on a Coen Brothers Boxed Set)
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
Idealistic young New York playwright Barton Fink moves to Hollywood to work in the movie business. Struggling to come to terms with the commercial nature of his new work, he develops writers’ block. Fink seeks help from two sources: his hotel neighbour, a travelling insurance salesman named Charlie Meadows; and WP Mayhew, an alcoholic novelist who has sold his soul to Hollywood.
Idealistic young New York playwright Barton Fink moves to Hollywood to work in the movie business. Struggling to come to terms with the commercial nature of his new work, he develops writers’ block. Fink seeks help from two sources: his hotel neighbour, a travelling insurance salesman named Charlie Meadows; and WP Mayhew, an alcoholic novelist who has sold his soul to Hollywood.
Review
After the recent disappointments of Intolerable Crulety and their remake of The Ladykillers, it’s worth remembering that in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, the Coen Brothers were the most consistently original and brilliantly talented film-makers in Hollywood, working across genres with baffling ease. Barton Fink is one of the best movies about the movie business, from the bombastic, imbecilic studio head Lipnick (Lerner) to the washed-up, slumming-it novelist (Mahoney, brilliantly playing a combination of William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald), with Turturro centre-stage as the hopelessly idealistic and pompous Fink, whose journey into the decaying bowels of Hollywood is brilliantly reflected in the faded and festering hotel in which he is a guest. The dialogue is razor-sharp and dazzling with wit, and the Art Deco design is both beautiful and threatening in equal measure; but it’s the performances that make the movie. Every performance in this film is pitch-perfect, but perhaps special mention should go to John Goodman, whose initially innocuous character is peeled apart layer by layer to drive the dark narrative at the heart of this excellent movie. A deserved Palm D’Or winner at Cannes in 1991. ND
After the recent disappointments of Intolerable Crulety and their remake of The Ladykillers, it’s worth remembering that in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, the Coen Brothers were the most consistently original and brilliantly talented film-makers in Hollywood, working across genres with baffling ease. Barton Fink is one of the best movies about the movie business, from the bombastic, imbecilic studio head Lipnick (Lerner) to the washed-up, slumming-it novelist (Mahoney, brilliantly playing a combination of William Faulkner and F. Scott Fitzgerald), with Turturro centre-stage as the hopelessly idealistic and pompous Fink, whose journey into the decaying bowels of Hollywood is brilliantly reflected in the faded and festering hotel in which he is a guest. The dialogue is razor-sharp and dazzling with wit, and the Art Deco design is both beautiful and threatening in equal measure; but it’s the performances that make the movie. Every performance in this film is pitch-perfect, but perhaps special mention should go to John Goodman, whose initially innocuous character is peeled apart layer by layer to drive the dark narrative at the heart of this excellent movie. A deserved Palm D’Or winner at Cannes in 1991. ND
