Review of Barton Fink (1991) by Parker H — 13 Jun 2011
"Barton Fink" lays in a space where noir sensibilities and metafiction collide. This is a film first and foremost about the creative process of writing a screenplay but it quickly deepens from there.
The character of Barton Fink (an excellent John Turturro) is an anxiety ridden, isolated character adrift from home confronting the unknown. The hotel he is staying in acts as a sort of worm-hole between the reality of New York City and the fantasy of Hollywood (an obvious reference to David Lynch).
The Coen Brothers's idea of Hollywood acts as both noirish an extremely Altman-esque. Robert Altman treated California as a surreal, dangerous, confusing, parallel universe and that is what the Coen's are doing here.
Hollywood is transient, foreign and self referencing and so is "Barton Fink." Like "Blood Simple" before it, "Barton Fink" is about movies. The Coen Brothers's, among other things, are commenting on the sate of cinema during the time of the films release by combining preexisting cinematic troupes to create something that does not warrant categorization, only an analysis that folds back in onto itself.
This review of Barton Fink (1991) was written by Parker H on 13 Jun 2011.
Barton Fink has generally received very positive reviews.
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