39 Facts About Barton Fink

Barton Fink is a 1991 American period black comedy psychological thriller film written, produced, edited and directed by the Coen brothers.

Barton Fink had its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1991.

Prominent themes of Barton Fink include the writing process; slavery and conditions of labor in creative industries; superficial distinctions between high culture and low culture; and the relationship of intellectuals with "the common man".

In 1941, up-and-coming Broadway playwright Barton Fink accepts a contract from Capitol Pictures in Hollywood to write film scripts for a thousand dollars per week.

Barton Fink's room's only decoration is a small painting of a woman on the beach, arm raised to block the sun.

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Barton Fink is assigned to a wrestling film by his new boss Jack Lipnick, but he finds difficulty in writing for the unfamiliar subject.

Barton Fink is distracted by sounds coming from the room next door, and he phones the front desk to complain.

Barton Fink produces the entire script in one sitting and he goes out for a night of celebratory dancing.

Barton Fink meets a woman who looks just like the one in the picture on his wall at the Earle, and she asks about the box.

Barton Fink tells her he does not know what it contains nor who owns it.

Barton Fink's agent advised against working with the Coens, but Deakins met with them at a cafe in Notting Hill and they soon began working together on Barton Fink.

Barton Fink's room is sparsely furnished with two large windows facing another building.

Barton Fink explains that he isn't sure but will be staying "indefinitely".

Barton Fink, she says, represents an author who is able to leave a story, while characters like Charlie cannot.

Barton Fink's rooms are bathed in sunlight, and Ben Geisler's office faces a lush array of flora.

Barton Fink meets Lipnick in one scene beside an enormous, spotless swimming pool.

Later, when Barton Fink celebrates the completed script by dancing at a USO show, he is surrounded by soldiers.

Picture in Barton Fink's room of a woman at the beach is a central focus for both the character and camera.

Barton Fink suggests that the identical images point to the absurdity of art which reflects life directly.

Actor Turturro referred to it as a coming of age story, while literature professor and film analyst R Barton Palmer calls it a Kunstlerroman, highlighting the importance of the main character's evolution as a writer.

Barton Fink compares it to The Hours, a film about Virginia Woolf and two women who read her work.

Barton Fink asserts that both films, far from rejecting the importance of the past, add to our understanding of it.

Barton Fink uses several stylistic conventions to accentuate the story's mood and give visual emphasis to particular themes.

For example, it would have been incongruous for Barton Fink to wake up at the end of the film and for us to suggest thereby that he actually inhabited a reality greater than what is depicted in the film.

For example, Barton Fink is summoned by a bell while dining in New York City; its sound is light and pleasant.

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When he finishes writing his script, Barton Fink celebrates by dancing at a United Service Organizations show.

Character of Barton Fink is loosely based on Clifford Odets, a playwright from New York who in the 1930s joined the Group Theatre, a gathering of dramatists which included Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg.

Barton Fink often invited women into his apartment, and he describes many of his affairs in the diary.

Coen brothers have stated that although the character of Fink is based on Odets, the character's appearance with "stand-up hair and glasses" is based on that of George S Kaufmann.

Barton Fink feels close to the theatre, confident that it can help him create work that honors "the common man".

Later, as Barton Fink tries to explain why he is staying at the Earle, studio head Jack Lipnick finishes his sentence, recognizing that Barton Fink wants a place that is "less Hollywood".

Deception in Barton Fink is emblematic of Hollywood's focus on low culture, its relentless desire to efficiently produce formulaic entertainment for the sole purpose of economic gain.

Capitol Pictures assigns Barton Fink to write a wrestling picture with superstar Wallace Beery in the leading role.

In both West's novel and Barton Fink, protagonists suffer under the oppressive industrial machine of the film studio.

Barton Fink is trapped between his own desire to create meaningful art and Capitol Pictures' need to use its standard conventions to earn profits.

Several lines of dialogue make clear by the film's end that Barton Fink has become a slave to the studio: "[T]he contents of your head", Lipnick's assistant tells him, "are the property of Capitol Pictures".

Barton Fink was ranked by Greg Cwik of IndieWire as the Coens' fifth best film.

Coen brothers have expressed interest in making a sequel to Barton Fink called Old Fink, which would take place in the 1960s.

Barton Fink said "you'll have to wait another 10 years for that, at least".