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Barton Fink (1991)
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Overview
User Rating:
Writers:
Release Date:
21 August 1991 (USA)
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Tagline:
Between Heaven and Hell There's Always Hollywood! more
Plot:
In 1941, New York intellectual playwright Barton Fink comes to Hollywood to write a Wallace Beery wrestling picture...
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Plot Keywords:
Writer
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Wrestling
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Playwright
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Hotel
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Writer's Block
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Awards:
Nominated for 3 Oscars.
Another 13 wins
&
2 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(39 articles)
Halfway House: Oh Suzanne-ah
(From FilmExperience. 3 November 2009, 9:00 AM, PST)
A Serious Man Review
(From Collider.com. 15 October 2009, 8:57 PM, PDT)
(From FilmExperience. 3 November 2009, 9:00 AM, PST)
A Serious Man Review
(From Collider.com. 15 October 2009, 8:57 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
Writer who doesn't want to see
more (170 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | John Turturro | ... | Barton Fink |
 | John Goodman | ... | Charlie Meadows |
 | Judy Davis | ... | Audrey Taylor |
 | Michael Lerner | ... | Jack Lipnick |
 | John Mahoney | ... | W.P. Mayhew |
 | Tony Shalhoub | ... | Ben Geisler |
 | Jon Polito | ... | Lou Breeze |
 | Steve Buscemi | ... | Chet |
 | David Warrilow | ... | Garland Stanford |
 | Richard Portnow | ... | Detective Mastrionotti |
| Christopher Murney | ... | Detective Deutsch |
| I.M. Hobson | ... | Derek |
 | Meagen Fay | ... | Poppy Carnahan (as Megan Faye) |
 | Lance Davis | ... | Richard St. Claire |
| Harry Bugin | ... | Pete |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated R for language and some scenes of violence.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
116 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.66 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
France:U |
Brazil:16 |
Argentina:13 |
Australia:M |
Chile:14 |
Finland:K-14 |
Germany:16 (bw) |
Norway:15 |
Peru:14 |
Portugal:M/12 |
Singapore:PG |
South Korea:15 |
Spain:18 |
Sweden:15 |
UK:15 |
USA:R (certificate #31095) |
Iceland:12
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The ending with the bird diving into the sea wasn't intentional. According to Ethan Coen and Joel Coen the bird got in the shot and they liked it so much, they decided to put it in. Birds also helped the Coens in Miller's Crossing (1990), and Fargo (1996).
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Charlie pulls the bedframe apart, the metal ball that drops to the floor has a metal rod through the center. When it hits the floor, the rod is nowhere to be seen.
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Quotes:
Charlie:
I could tell you some stories...
Barton: Sure you could and yet many writers do everything in their power to insulate themselves from the common man, from where they live, from where they trade, from where they fight and love and converse and...
Barton: So naturally their work suffers and regresses into empty formalism and... well I'm spouting off again, but to put it in your language, the theatre becomes as phony as a three-dollar bill!
Charlie: Well I guess that's a tragedy right there!
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Barton: Sure you could and yet many writers do everything in their power to insulate themselves from the common man, from where they live, from where they trade, from where they fight and love and converse and...
Barton: So naturally their work suffers and regresses into empty formalism and... well I'm spouting off again, but to put it in your language, the theatre becomes as phony as a three-dollar bill!
Charlie: Well I guess that's a tragedy right there!
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Movie Connections:
References Slave Ship (1937)
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Soundtrack:
DOWN SOUTH CAMP MEETING
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (170 total)
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This is my first time to comment on a film on this site. I have enjoyed reading y'all's comments. After 4 viewings, I found peace with the mysteries I saw in the film. Barton, though he talks a good show about wanting to write about "the common man", doesn't see anything around him as worthy of being a subject. He fears learning about the common man, or anything else outside his experience. His experience teems with material for a watchful writer, but Barton sees nothing. When the wallpaper peels, he doesn't look for what's underneath or an explanation, he feverishly tries to cover up what's "exposed" as fast as he can (uno metaphoro). I agree with all comments about Goodman presenting Barton with a "common man" right in his own room. He has a research subject to learn from and to use as a springboard to break through his "writer's block", but he can't see anything that "god" presents for him to use. And the Woman on the Beach. Interesting that he never sees her face. He can never really SEE her but seems drawn to her and fascinated by her. He is drawn to the fact that she is "unseeable". In the end he "sees" her and doesn't explore that possibility either. The Box? He never opens it. We assume what we want to assume, but Barton, who is in control (!) simply attaches to the box without ever "discovering" it. He is all show and no substance. I agree, his one hit (the play) may be all he has in him. He's a one-trick pony posing as a seeking writer, intent on revealing the inner "common man" but is petrified by fear, ignorance or what-you-will. Look at the film again with an eye to his inability to "see" what is clearly revealed to him. you may "see" what I mean! Cheers!