.jpg)
Barton Fink is a 1991 American film, written, directed, and produced by the Coen brothers (pictured). Set in 1941, it stars John Turturro in the title role as a young New York City playwright who is hired to write scripts for a movie studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie, the insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle. The Coens wrote the screenplay in three weeks while experiencing difficulty during the writing of another film, Miller's Crossing. Premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 1991, Barton Fink won the Palme d'Or, as well as awards for Best Director and Best Actor (Turturro). Although it was celebrated almost universally by critics and nominated for three Academy Awards, the movie grossed only $6,000,000 at the box office, two-thirds of its estimated budget. The process of writing and the culture of entertainment production are two prominent themes of Barton Fink. The worlds of Hollywood and Broadway are contrasted, and the film analyzes superficial distinctions between high and low culture. Barton Fink has defied efforts at genre classification. It has been variously referred to as a film noir, a horror film, a Künstlerroman, and a buddy film. (Full article...)
Recently featured: California State Route 52 – Ranavalona I – British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War