Barton Fink (1991)
“I’ll show you the life of a mind”
Number 3 in my personal all time favourite Coen Brothers film is this absolute classic. An all star cast again, however it’s the two central performances from a stunning John Turturro as troubled writer “Barton Fink” and his erstwhile friend “Charlie Meadows”, a performance of sublime intrigue and perfection from John Goodman. Before Charlie’s introduction we see the torn life of Barton Fink, standing backstage as his play is drawing to a close, with the audience baying for the writer and warmly showing their appreciation, Barton takes his bow. But he looks strangely unfulfilled. More appreciation follows and the unfulfillment growing, Barton is invited to Hollywood to write larger, bigger productions.
“Barton Fink” (John Turturro) Simply stunning as Barton Fink, a talented writer but struggling to produce for the Hollywood studio he has now signed to. The camera follows Fink everywhere, often with long, lingering shots of just him and Turturro is magnificent as his tortuous descent is magnified. He moves from one bizarre, surreal meeting to another, again the camera constantly framing him up close. Struggling for inspiration, he retreats into his hotel room whereby he becomes fixated with a framed picture of a woman on a beach and this is magnified again with lingering shots of Barton staring intently at the picture. As it does with lingering shots of Barton staring at his typewriter, struggling with writer’s block. We follow his surreal journey from one bizarre and unfulfilling appointment to the next, interspersed with long periods sat alone in his hotel room, the claustrophobia drawing in as his mind unravels.
“Charlie Meadows” (John Goodman) Matching Turturro’s magnificent performance is John Goodman as an insurance salesman who lives in the hotel room next door. Always questioning, always listening, they strike up an unlikely friendship whereby Barton is the aspiring writer, using his mind to create a writing masterpiece, whereas Charlie is the common man, working hard for a liveable wage. Goodman’s portrayal of the every man to Turturro’s artist is brilliantly portrayed, as are his quirks and ticks and early in their relationship it’s clear that Charlie’s bizarre ways are not entirely conventional. The juxtaposition of their characters is a key theme of the film. However, it’s their combined performance that astounds you. There is a feeling of an uneasy/thin balance between them, and brilliantly, at its height when you’re fully absorbed into the narrative, their time together is frustratingly curtailed.
Their relationship is central to the film, and interestingly only within the confines of Barton Fink’s hotel room. We never see or enter Charlie’s room. Claustrophobic, dank and with wallpaper peeling off the walls, it becomes another character in the film, as does the hotel itself. Seemingly full, no other guests are seen and only a sporadic cameo from Coen Brothers regular Steve Buscemi as “Chet” breaks this theme. The hotel corridor is reminiscent of The Shining, in texture and feel and has an ethereal edge to it.
Supporting and cameo roles abound in a film that only contains 25 credited roles. Jon Polito returns as put upon “Lou Breeze”, Tony Shalhoub is excellent as fast talking writer “Ben Geisler”, Michael Lerner is astounding as “Jack Lipnick”, John Mahoney brilliantly plays “Bill Mayhew” and Judy Davis is sublime as “Audrey Taylor”. There are also uncredited performances from Frances McDormand (again!) and previous Director of Photography and friend Barry Sonnenfeld. But it’s Turturro and Goodman who star, their relationship central and their performances just brilliant throughout. The genius that is Roger Deakins makes his first of seven collaborations with the Brothers here as Director of Photography and the iconic shots of the decrepit hotel are a testament to him. The hotel really does become a character all of its own in this film.
Summing up the key themes of the film is difficult as many will lead to easy assumptions on the plot and remainder of the film, and I remain keen to avoid spoilers of any kind. But there are hints at racism and a religious, ideological divide and one that I won’t share as it leads to a spoiler and is my assumption alone it seems! But clear themes are of the divide between artists and the “common man”, of mass producing for the Hollywood machine, and of writers trying to write a unique screenplay, against the objections of others. It’s a triumph and 3 decades on hasn’t aged in any way. The darkest of dark comedy in many ways, multi layered, and utterly, utterly brilliant. The first Coen Brothers film to be nominated for Oscars, Michael Lerner’s fantastic portrayal of Film Studio Boss Jack Lipnick deserved the nod, but all three nominations went unfulfilled. I love this film so much yet restrained by my not wanting to place overt spoilers!
I cannot recommend this film highly enough.
“Barton Fink” can also be found within the first volume in my 7 volumes of “Essential Film Reviews Collection” on Amazon with each and every volume free to read should you have a Kindle “Unlimited” package. All 9 of my self-published books can also be read for free on Kindle (but go on, treat yourself to a paperback or hardback version!) and should you watch my short Youtube video linked at the top of this article you’ll also find links to my Patreon and Buy Me A Coffee and other ways of supporting my work as an independent writer.
Thanks for reading. I hope this message in a bottle in The Matrix finds you well, prospering, and the right way up in an upside down world.
