Alongside the classic Coen cinematography, like darker color palettes and a skillful use of shadows, Barton Fink (1991) has strong elements of desire for money and success. The titular character Barton is a highly successful playwright living in 1941 New York City. Even though he is loved by his audiences, he feels as though he is lacking something. As fate intervenes, Barton receives an offer to write for “the pictures” in Los Angeles. The job offered to him is to write a boxing picture, a subject Barton knows nothing about. Barton’s only wish is to write for the common man, but his subconscious goal is to gain success. This goal of success is similar to that of the screwball male. Barton wishes to be the savior of the common man, while the …show more content…
goal of the screwball male is to The very first scene in the film, we see Barton standing off stage at the performance of one of his shows. His is tightly gripping a playbill, watching the production with visible anxiety. It is clear Barton cares too much of what others think of him. After the show, he dines with members of the audience. While one of his fans gushes over how “simply marvelous” his play is, Barton responds that it is “merely adequate”. Barton is “messianic in his zeal for a proletariat theater” (Heisner 51). However, he shows hypocritical qualities. It is mentioned multiple times that Barton wants to be the voice of the masses, but when a common stagehand bellows a line during his play to carry on the action, Barton gives him a troubled look. It is very apparent Barton only wants to be surrounded by the posh upper class yet be admired by the common man. Barton is the quintessential noir male of Barton Fink. He desires success and admiration without any real effort put in. He also yearns for the film’s token femme fatale, and feels guilt for doing so. Barton and Audrey Taylor (Judy Davis), the lover of Barton’s writing idol, have a palpable flirtation from the moment they meet. And after the Coens pepper in scenes that lead the audience to believe the relationship between Audrey and lover W.P. Mayhew (John Mahoney) is tumultuous, it is obvious fate was meant to bring Barton and his muse together. However, in the Coen universe, fate can be very cruel. There seem to be a specific rules pertaining to consequence that are applicable to the Coen universe. The rule present in Barton Fink is as follows: once a character shows any sign of iniquity, he or she has already fallen from grace. There is no chance of changing their fate. According to Robert Pippin in his book, Fatalism in American Film Noir: Some Cinematic Philosophy, film noir is “a movie which at no time misleads you into thinking there is going to be a happy ending” (Pippin 25). Barton succumbs to temptation and feels tremendous guilt for sleeping with Audrey. To add more to Barton’s guilt in the twisted world that the Coens created, he wakes up in the morning to find Audrey had been murdered while the two of them slept. The next sequence of the film shows Barton’s final descent into madness. In order to deal with his grief and stress, Barton turns to his fellow resident of the Hotel Earle, Charlie Meadows (John Goodman).
Even though Barton has only known him for a short period of time, he trusts Charlie to help him take care of Audrey’s body. Somehow Charlie knows exactly what to do with a dead body. He cleans up the room with ease, only leaving a large blood stain on the bare mattress. Barton passes out from exhaustion and anxiety only to be woken up by Charlie slapping him repeatedly to wake him up. Barton asks, “Where’s Audrey?” an enraged Charlie shouts back, “She’s dead!” (Barton Fink). After the clean-up, Barton has a meeting with the producer of his boxing film. The producer, Jack Lipnick (Michael Lerner), praises Barton for his intellect, yet Barton doesn’t seem to notice. Once he returns to the ominous Hotel Earle, Barton finds Charlie is preparing to leave. Barton immediately starts crying to Charlie saying, “I’m going crazy, I don’t know what to do” (Barton Fink). After Charlie leaves, Barton begins to sob while sitting on the blood stained mattress. Then there is a superimposition of a shot of the long hallways of the hotel over Barton, suggesting that maybe there is no way out of the Hotel Earle. The Hotel Earle is meant to punish those who sin, murderers and adulterers included. In their next shot, the Coen Brothers allow the audience to see what Barton sees. As he sits at his typewriter, unable to write anything, Barton pulls open the center desk drawer and takes out a bible. He opens it up to Genesis and the first passage reads “Fade in on a tenement building on the Lower East Side. Faint traffic noise is audible; as is the cry of the fishmongers” (Barton Fink). The shot we see is an extreme close up of the text, placing maximum importance on the words. Barton’s inner psyche is so damaged from his complex desire for success and the guilt he feels about Audrey, that he is imagining his own words in place of those of the
Bible.
In his work, “Overselling capitalism,” Benjamin Barber speaks on capitalism’s shift from filling the needs of the consumer, to creating needs. He tells how it has become easier for people to borrow money, so that they no longer get as much satisfaction from affording necessities. He says capitalism can be good when both sides benefit, but it has overgrown and must continue creating needs, even though the only people who can afford these needs don’t have any. According to Barber, people are still working hard, but them and their children are becoming seduced by unneeded shopping. He states that people are becoming more needy, and losing discipline in their lifestyle. Additionally capitalism must encourage easy and addicting shopping to
In “The Thematic Paradigm,” University of Florida professor of film studies, Robert Ray, defines two types of heroes pervading American films, the outlaw hero and the official hero. Often the two types are merged in a reconciliatory pattern, he argues. In fact, this
In the article “The Thematic Paradigm” exerted from his book, A Certain Tendency of the Hollywood Cinema, Robert Ray provides a description of the two types of heroes depicted in American film: the outlaw hero and the official hero. Although the outlaw hero is more risky and lonely, he cherishes liberty and sovereignty. The official hero on the other hand, generally poses the role of an average ordinary person, claiming an image of a “civilized person.” While the outlaw hero creates an image of a rough-cut person likely to commit a crime, the official hero has a legend perception. In this essay, I will reflect on Ray’s work, along with demonstrating where I observe ideologies and themes.
Lewis, J. (2008). American Film: A History. New York, NY. W.W. Norton and Co. Inc. (p. 405,406,502).
The noir style is showcased in Sunset Boulevard with its use of visually dark and uncomfortable settings and camera work, as well as its use of the traditional film noir characters. In addition, the overall tone and themes expressed in it tightly correspond to what many film noirs addressed. What made this film unique was its harsh criticism of the film industry itself, which some of Wilder’s peers saw as biting the hand that fed him. There is frequent commentary on the superficial state of Hollywood and its indifference to suffering, which is still a topic avoided by many in the film business today. However, Sunset Blvd. set a precedent for future film noirs, and is an inspiration for those who do not quite believe what they are being shown by Hollywood.
Stanley, Robert H. The Movie Idiom: Film as a Popular Art Form. Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc. 2011. Print
When deciding what movie to do for this particular paper I faced a few issues. I knew what the requirements were, but I wanted something different and something I could have fun watching and writing as well. So, after looking around and pondering movies for weeks I finally decided on a perfect choice The 60’s directed by Mark Piznarski?
Sklar, Robert. Movie-made America: A Social History of American Movies. New York: Random House, 1975. Print.
Russell, David O., dir. American Hustle. Writ. Eric W. Singer and David O. Russell. Columbia
Meneghetti, Michael. “Review: Ellis Cashmore (2009) Martin Scorsese’s America.” Film Philosophy 14.2 (2010). 161-168. Web. 6 Apr. 2014
Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) explores the intermingling of public and private realms, puncturing the illusion of the former and unveiling the grim and often disturbing reality of the latter. By delving into the personal delusions of its characters and showing the devastation caused by disrupting those fantasies, the film provides not only a commentary on the industry of which it is a product but also a shared anxiety about the corrupting influence of external perception. Narrated by a dead man, centering on a recluse tortured by her own former stardom, and concerning a once-promising director who refuses to believe his greatest star could ever be forgotten, the work dissects a multitude of illusory folds to reveal an ultimately undesirable truth. Its fundamental conflict lies in the compartmentalization that allows the downtrodden to hope and carry on. Sunset Boulevard carefully considers the intricate honeycombs of dishonesty and deception that constitute a human life, then dissolves the barriers and watches the emotions, lies, and self-contradictions slurry together and react in often volatile and destructive ways.
The American black comedy The Wolf of Wall Street directed by Martin Scorsese was released December 25, 2013 and stars the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie. While on face value The Wolf of Wall Street looks like a film about excessive cocaine binges, long evenings filled with men with cigarettes, large portions of alcoholic consumption, having many sexual escapades with various women and even dwarf tossing from time to time, the film is deeply rooted in perception gender within the genre of The Wolf of Wall Street. The word ‘genre’ is rooted into a similar category as
Williams, Linda. "Film Bodies: Genre, Gender and Excess." Braudy and Cohen (1991 / 2004): 727-41. Print.
Barsam, Richard. Looking at Movies An Introduction to Film, Second Edition (Set with DVD). New York: W. W. Norton, 2006. Print.
“Entertainment has to come hand in hand with a little bit of medicine, some people go to the movies to be reminded that everything’s okay. I don’t make those kinds of movies. That, to me, is a lie. Everything’s not okay.” - David Fincher. David Fincher is the director that I am choosing to homage for a number of reasons. I personally find his movies to be some of the deepest, most well made, and beautiful films in recent memory. However it is Fincher’s take on story telling and filmmaking in general that causes me to admire his films so much. This quote exemplifies that, and is something that I whole-heartedly agree with. I am and have always been extremely opinionated and open about my views on the world and I believe that artists have a responsibility to do what they can with their art to help improve the culture that they are helping to create. In this paper I will try to outline exactly how Fincher creates the masterpieces that he does and what I can take from that and apply to my films.