Despite much confusion, I am sure this title and blog post will elicit many confused comments and I do apologize in advance. But, yes Barton Fink is the title of the movie which I saw last night. It is written/directed/produced by the Coen Brothers and was released in 1991 (Ironically, the day before I was born). It starred John Turturro as Barton Fink and John Goodman as Charlie Meadows. I would not expect many people to have heard of this film unless you are truly disciples of the Coen's because this movie was only released in 189 theaters, grossed only $6 million, and opened before any of you (except Mr. Bennett, I believe) could speak or walk.
Now I posted a few weeks ago, about the fact that I believed that the Savages was one of the strangest films I had seen, but shockingly I was very, very wrong. The Savages was very grounded in reality, while this film was not. It told the story of a New York playwright in 1941 who moved to Hollywood to start writing movies, and his experiences writing his first film in Hollywood. It was a very clever and brilliantly crafted story, cloaked in many levels of symbolism, many of which I am sure I missed.
The Coen Brothers are always brilliant screenwriters and their stories are almost always unique and this film was no exception. Adding to it was the work by their brilliant cinematographer, Roger Deakins who did a brilliant job with camera angles and lighting to set the atmosphere. I must say that this film was very well done when I watched it but it was not until I watched the trailer after the movie that I realized the brilliant screenwriting that the Coen's had done. They had acheived something that Mr. Bennett has always said, they truly tried to make every line of dialogue be significant and the way the actors spoke made perfect sense in terms of the plot of the film, although as I stated when I first watched the movie, I originally missed the significance completely.
I will not ruin any of the action because I suggest that people go see the movie if they are a fan of the Coen's, or a fan of a greatly crafted movie. The acting, script, and cinematography created a unique and utterly unconventional story that was a very enjoyable movie that kept you guessing. However, if you do see the movie, expect to be taking beyond the normal conventions of the story. I would be happy to post my comments on many of the symbols of the film and the stylings but I do not want to give away anything, and if no one has seen the film, it would fall upon dead ears.
However, if I have underestimated my class and people have seen this film, I would be happy to discuss it in greater detail. Once again, the film is entitled Barton Fink.
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I have always been curious about this film. I am a fan of the Coen Brothers, and have thoroughly enjoyed The Big Lebowski, Raising Arizona, No Country For Old Men, Fargo, and Burn After Reading. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times this movie was put on my Netflix queue and then subsequently taken off because I wasn't sure about it. Maybe I'll put it on their and leave it there because of your post. Thank you Mr. Cassidy.
ReplyDeleteI was sentient in 1991. I was teaching at Tech in 1991. I was teaching the film class in 1991. The fall. My first semester. And yes, I've seen Barton Fink.
ReplyDeleteTell truth, I will see any movie with John Goodman in it. He just eats up the scenery. I'm going to see him on Broadway nexxt month in "Waiting for Godot."
I don't recall the film very well. Doesn't Goodman turn out to be either a psycho-pathic killer, or a lieutenant of the Devil, or both? I seem to recall a descent into super-natural toward the end.
My favorite Coen film is still "Blood Simple," there first. It starts with a quote that I whisper to myself often. "It don't matter who you are, President of the US, Pope in Rome, Man of the year, there's just no such thing as a guarantee."
I showed "Fargo" in class a few times as an example of updated film noir. The snow is the replacement for the dark rainy city-scapes more typical of that genre.