Barton Fink Analysis

Barton Fink

Written, Produced, Edited & Directed by: The Coen Brothers

Won Palme d'Or, Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes 1991.

The work of Coen Brothers can get overwhelming to watch at times because there is a lot of subtext thrown around everywhere and there is a lot to take, in spite of the slow pacing. It feels that they are trying to communicate something with every filmmaking choice they make, if the shot is lingering for a bit longer than it should or if the blocking seems a little weird and most of the times, the characters are quirky and unpredictable. Barton Fink is about a successful playwright, who goes to LA to write Hollywood films. He is asked to write a wresting picture and more than halfway through the film when he submits his draft to the producer, he says that people want to see some fights and action in a wresting movie, not he wrestling with his soul, that'd work a bit for the critics but this script stinks. This film does a lot of things, in terms of exploring different themes, it explores the mainstream way of making movies vs the artistic way of making movies theme, it also explores writing, writer's block and the anguish of an obsessed artist, the themes of a common man vs a rich man and a lot more.

The cinematography by Roger Deakins feels like a different layer added to the film, the stylistic choices made and especially the pacing is used to create uncomfortable, weird situations in conversations. The core conflict of the film changes midway through the film, it begins with Barton wanting to make a difference and then it suddenly changes to getting out of a bad situation which he suddenly falls into. This seems like an element which they added in the film after asking themselves the question, 'What's the most bonkers thing that can happen in our story?' and they did that. It goes all bonkers from there and yet everything stay in place in terms of character consistency and coherence. I'm yet to catch up on the other works of the Coen Brothers.