Barton Fink

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Movie
German title Barton Fink
Original title Barton Fink
Country of production USA , UK
original language English
Publishing year 1991
length 116 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Joel Coen
Ethan Coen
script Joel Coen
Ethan Coen
production Ethan Coen
music Carter Burwell
camera Roger Deakins
cut Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
(as "Roderick Jaynes")
occupation

Barton Fink is a 1991 film by the Coen brothers .

action

New York , 1941: The young, naive-idealistic author Barton Fink had his first stage success on Broadway and was praised by the press for his accurate portrayal of the commonplace milieu, which is also heard in distant Hollywood , where he is a lucrative one Received offer from "Capitol Pictures". At first rather reluctantly, but then attracted by the generous fee, he sets off on his journey to the west coast . At his own request, he is accommodated in the shabby Hotel "Earle", which seems deserted. Only the shoes in front of the room doors in the long hotel corridors indicate that he is not alone. The bellhop Chet and an elderly, immobile elevator operator seem to be the only servants. The dreariness continues in the colorless, ghostly interior of the noisy rooms. In the humid heat, wallpaper peel off the walls with a smack, the windows cannot be opened and mosquitoes are a nuisance.

During a first, superficial meeting with the overbearing film mogul Jack Lipnick and his submissive adlatus Lou Breeze, Fink learns that one expects “great things” from him, the “Barton Fink feeling” in the form of a script for a trivial “catcher” -Movie". He remains largely speechless and perplexed. Sitting apathetically in front of his typewriter, he keeps looking at a colored photograph on the wall of the hotel room: a beauty in a bathing suit is sitting on the beach and looking into the distance. Fink seems hypnotized. He hears the rush of the sea, but also sometimes plaintive, sometimes laughing noises from the next room that disturb his concentration. Charlie Meadows, a coarse and good-natured mountain of a man, apologizes immediately and introduces himself as an insurance agent who sells "a little peace of mind" primarily to female customers. The two men could not be more different, but they are united by their loneliness. Meadows is impressed with Fink's job. He, in turn, is enthusiastic about Meadows, in which he is not really interested, but which he considers to be a typical representative of the milieu, the central theme in his previous work.

In the men's room of the film studio , he meets the formerly very successful and admired screenwriter “Bill” WP Mayhew. When Fink asks him for a few tips for his draft of a catcher film, he is invited to the author's house for the next day. There he is warmly received by his assistant and lover Audrey Taylor, but not admitted because the drunk Mayhew, as can be heard in the background, is currently having one of his fits of rage. At a later meeting, Mayhew reveals himself to be a disaffected and cynical alcoholic who neither can nor wants to help Fink. When he slaps Audrey drunk again, Fink's admiration - he feels drawn to the pretty woman - finally turns into contempt.

Meadows informs the visibly struck Fink that he has to travel to New York for a few days. Fink willingly gives him the address of his family to whom he can turn "for a warm soup" in the strange city.

The author hopes to get help from a meeting with the arrogant producer Ben Geisler. But when he hears that Fink has a typing inhibition and the script has not even started, he becomes furious and puts Fink under additional pressure; by the next morning he had to be able to tell Lipnick at least a rough outline of the story.

The following sleepless night, in desperation, he calls Audrey. She sneaks up to him to give him a few simple dramaturgical tips for his script. She also lets it be known that she herself is the actual author of Mayhew's works. They spend the night together.

In the morning Fink wakes up bathed in sweat. Next to him lies the lifeless Audrey, naked and covered in blood. Meadows, who rushes to Fink's yells and requests, offers him his help and prevents him from informing the police. He agrees to take care of everything. The author is on the verge of collapse. It is shortly before 8 o'clock; his appointment with Lipnick is approaching.

He warmly welcomes him to his pool. When Fink laboriously searches for excuses and explanations, Breeze reminds him - obviously in agreement with his boss - of his duties and threatens him with dismissal. Lipnick, however, does not seem to agree with this approach. Angry, he humiliates Breeze and puts him in front of the door. Nobody should threaten his protégé, flatters Lipnick and kisses the completely perplexed Fink's shoes.

Meadows says goodbye to the desperate author and asks him to take care of a small box that contains everything that matters to him. May the cardboard serve as inspiration for his story.

In the hotel lobby, two sarcastic detectives reveal to him that his neighbor is really the wanted serial killer Carl Mundt ("Mörder-Mundt"), who shoots his victims and then beheads them.

Back in his room, he sits down at his typewriter - the cardboard box in front of him, the beach photo above it - and writes down the story “The Burly” in one piece. Completely exuberant and over-the-top he celebrates the end of his writing inhibition at a wild dance event organized by the United Service Organizations , where he provokes a fight between soldiers and sailors with his arrogant demeanor ("I am an author. I am creative!").

In his room he meets the two policemen again, who have just read his manuscript and draw his attention to his mattress, which is still soaked in Audrey's blood. You accuse Fink of complicity in the murders of Mayhew and his secretary, whom Fink apparently knew. He senses that Mundt is back (“Why is it so hot here?”) And warns the police. They handcuff him to the bed and wait for the wanted man. He meets them a little later at the end of the long hotel corridor and shoots them both with a shotgun while the hallway goes up in flames behind him. With a show of strength, Mundt freed Fink from his position and justified his actions to him; for in the end he frees his victims from their sufferings. Fink is just a "tourist with a typewriter"; but he must live in this place. Mundt says goodbye to his burning room with a smug smile, but lets Fink know that he has visited his family in New York (“nice people”) and that the box that he left with Fink does not belong to him.

Lipnick receives Fink in a fantasy uniform and Breeze at his side, visibly disgruntled, one last time. The film is being postponed because it has to go to war. Fink's script is "cold coffee". He is still under contract; but nothing he writes is ever published. Fink tries to reach his family in New York by phone, but can't get through.

He goes to the beach, sits down in the sand with the mysterious box next to him. A beautiful woman in a bathing suit approaches. He claims to have seen her before. She asks him what's in the box and whether the box belongs to him. Fink always replies that he doesn't know. She smiles, sits down on the sand, turns her back on him, her eyes on the sea, and thus takes the position of the stranger in the hotel room photo.

criticism

Barton Fink is considered to be one of the most cynical reckoning with the ruthlessness of the commercial film industry (especially Hollywood ).

“A pitch-black comedy, staged as a cinematic rollercoaster ride that tries to pull the solid ground from under the audience's feet. Perfect entertainment cinema with brilliant actors and impressive visual effects. "

- Lexicon of international film

In its 1991 review, Die Zeit also praised the virtuosity of the two directors of Barton Fink . The melody of the Hollywood myth is played to the end here; Barton Fink is not a "film of medium temperatures, but a cold fever, a mirage of images and sounds, a mannerist excess".

Awards

The film is the only film to date that has managed to win all three main prizes ( Palme d'Or , Director , Actor ) at the Cannes Film Festival at the 1991 Festival .

There are also further awards from international film critics, in particular for cinematographer Roger Deakins , who has received awards from the London Critics Circle , the Los Angeles Film Critics Association , the National Society of Film Critics and the New York Film Critics Circle for his work .

Supporting actress Judy Davis was also recognized by the New York Film Critics Circle . She received an Actress of the Year award from the London Critics Circle (also for her performance in Naked Lunch and husbands and wives ) .

Leading actor John Turturro won a David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actor and Michael Lerner won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor , and the film received the Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award for its sound effects .

In addition, Barton Fink was nominated for an Oscar in three categories (Best Production Design , Best Costume Design and Michael Lerner as Best Supporting Actor) , while John Goodman received a Golden Globe nomination (also for best supporting actor) .

Real role models

Some of the characters are based on real models, also optically. There are similarities between the playwright and screenwriter Clifford Odets and Barton Fink, or the writer and Nobel Prize winner William Faulkner and W. P. Mayhew. There are also parallels with film mogul Jack Lipnick and Louis B. Mayer , who also comes from Belarus, and David O. Selznick .

German versions

The film was dubbed in German twice. The first version was created for the theatrical release at Magma Synchron GmbH in Berlin. Joachim Kunzendorf was responsible for the book and the dialogues. The second version was created in 2004 as part of the DVD release based on the old dialogue book in Munich.

character actor Voice theatrical version Voice DVD version
Barton Fink John Turturro Benjamin Völz Dietmar miracle
Charlie Meadows John Goodman Rainer Basedow Hartmut Neugebauer
Audrey Taylor Judy Davis Gertie Honeck Susanne von Medvey
Jack Lipnick Michael Lerner Klaus Sunshine Norbert Gastell
WP Mayhew John Mahoney Eric Vaessen Klaus Höhne
Ben Geisler Tony Shalhoub Michael Telloke Pierre Peters-Arnolds
Lou Breeze Jon Polito Helmut Müller-Lankow Hans-Rainer Müller
Chet Steve Buscemi Santiago Ziesmer Benedikt Weber
Clapper boy Max Grodénchik Sven Plate Tobias Lelle

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for Barton Fink . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2010 (PDF; test number: 66 635 V).
  2. ↑ Barton Fink. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  3. ↑ Cold fever . In: Die Zeit , October 11, 1991, accessed November 29, 2014
  4. ↑ Barton Fink in the German synchronous file
  5. ↑ Barton Fink in the German synchronous file