Barton Fink (played by John Turturro) is a 1941 playwright, living in New York. When his first great play is very successful and gets great reviews, he is asked to come writing film-scripts in Hollywood.
When he accepts, and arrives in Hollywood, he checks in in an old, quiet hotel, where he meets his neighbor Charlie Meadows (John Goodman), an insurance salesman, who quickly gets along with Barton.
At his first meeting with the boss of his film studio he gets assigned to writing a wrestling picture. Barton, however, is unable to write anything. When he explains this to the producer of the film, he gets suggested to meet with a fellow writer. In the toilet of a restaurant Barton meets famous novelist W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney), with whom he schedules a meeting for Barton to get some tips
Later on the day, when Barton arrives at Mayhew’s home, he finds the writer drunk and shouting at his secretary/lover Audrey, who reschedules the meeting. When Barton meets Mayhew and Audrey later on for lunch, Mayhew gets drunk again, slaps Audrey and walks away.
On the night before Barton has to turn in his script, without still having written anything, he panics and calls Audrey, who offers to come over and help him write. When she arrives, Barton is shocked to learn that Audrey wrote virtually all of Mayhew’s novels for him, but starts kissing Audrey.
The next morning Barton wakes up next to Audrey, who had her throat slit in the middle of the night. Barton panics, and wakes Charlie, who takes away the body. That afternoon Barton meets up with his boss, who is very supportive, even though Fink has nothing to show him yet, and he is given more time.
When Barton resumes trying to write, he is visited by Charlie, who announces that he will leave to New York for a couple of days, on work-related business; he gives Barton a package to take care of. Soon afterwards, Barton is visited by police officers, who show him a picture of Charlie, and explain that he is actually known as “Madman” Mundt, a notorious serial-killer, who decapitates his victims. Barton denies having any knowledge of Charlie’s whereabouts, and when the policemen leave, he returns to his room to find his writer’s block lifted, upon which he starts writing and finishes the entire script in one night.
The next day, Barton returns to his room to find the detectives there, who arrest him. When they hear the elevator coming up, however, they assume correctly it’s Charlie/Mundt returning, and order him to surrender. At first Mundt appears to comply, but then he grabs a shotgun, and charges the policemen, while next to him the walls appear to spontaneously burst into flames. After having killed both policemen, Mundt releases Charlie, and they talk shortly, after which Mundt enters his room, and Barton leaves the (burning) hotel holding Mundt’s package and his script.
When Barton meets with his boss, he finds out that his script was denied, and that his career has ended before it even started, because the production company will not produce anything he writes, but he will remain under contract.
I found Barton Fink to be a magnificent film, with every shot and every word planned, and performed to perfection. The Coen brothers really showed what they were capable of, reaching the same level of quality later shown with such movies as Fargo and No Country for Old Men.
The movie was, in my eyes well-deserved, awarded with prizes for Best Director, Best Actor and even earning the grand prize: The Palme d’Or. The quality of acting of both Turturro and Goodman is amongst their best I have seen.
The film is not to be put in just one genre; it has elements of genres ranging from film noir, through horror to drama. With every shot meticulously planned, it contains many references, themes and a lot symbolism.
Barton Fink – A truly great movie, with brilliant storytelling and marvelous acting; this movie has it all!
