Barton Fink
The Coen Brothers, by all means, shouldn’t be successful as they are. Technically, they should be on the outskirts of holiday, producing off the beaten track films that are recognised solely by a few critics that want to laud their knowledge over the layman. And by all means, the beginning of the Coen brothers career saw them release their masterpieces to a small crowd, unbeknownst to them that their popularity will increase tenfold. Just look at cult classics such as The Big Lebowski and Fargo, and Oscar Winning No Country For Old Man
Nowadays, their work is spoken in hallowed reverend talk as they prove yet again that while their talent is unmeasurable, they are still utterly snubbed. Inside Llewyn Davis is one of their best works and sees it fall sort of the awards and nominations it should have.
Nothing encompasses their achievements than Barton Fink; a movie that takes a cynical look at the Hollywood culture. It revolves around the titular character Barton who is a successful playwright in New York. Riding on the acclaim of his play, his agent sends him off to Hollywood to pen his first movie. However, he finds that the world of Los Angeles is a different kettle of fish; too fast paced and commercial while the annoyances of his neighbours in his dank apartment rattle something more sinister for Barton.
First off, this cinema has a collection of some of the strongest performances. Always able to develop this intriguing characters, Coen’s direct the enigmatic and underrated John Turturro in a lead role who encompasses the obsessive want that most writers struggle with. Navigating unsurely through a world that he does not know. Playing another strong lead is John Goodman as Charlie, one of Barton’s neighbours. A character who is a seemingly harmless teddy bear until revelations come streaming by. Goodman is outstanding here and has the best moment near the end where he is powerful and of some unwavering might behind it.
It is the themes of Barton Fink that are tantalising at best, criticising the medium that the Coen’s choose to work for. Not so much flogging the art of cinema, it actually takes chunk of flesh from the studios. This is clear in Michael Lerner fast paced and money hungry producer Jack Lipnick, boss of Capitol Pictures. Sure, the need and urge for Fink’s writing on screen are paramount but soon that talent is lost on a push for audience friendly cinema. Tackling the tense ties between creative and business, Barton Fink pushes a tongue firmly into its cheek with this black and bleak look at the struggle to get your film the way you want it. As Fink’s ideals to change to world, an ideal passed from writing for the stage, the film turns into a hollow portrayal of Hollywood.
Barton Fink, I must stress, has never been so important today than ever. Clearly. In movies such as American Hustle sweeping the boards over 12 Years A Slave the battle from movies that entertain and films that educate is still a vital and touchy subject. While deep in other themes such as slavery, drug abuse, and facism(so many terms our bounded and our characters teeter on the edge of humanity a lot) it is this note that harps strongly with people.
Where creative have a constant battle to work on what they love .
It is a superb comment on a Hollywood world that has unchanged.
TTFN
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