History Film / BartonFink

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Barton Fink chooses to write a deeply emotional drama instead of a cheap sports movie. [[spoiler:Rather than being impressed, Lipnick angrily punishes Barton for his insubordination by putting him under a contract that will not allow any of his work to be published unless he falls in line]].

* ItsAllAboutMe: Barton's condescending mindset towards Charlie and just about everything he meets. Barton speaks idealistically about how "common men" like Charlie have important things to say, but then interrupts Charlie whenever he tries to tell a story and make a point. He displays even more blatant arrogance at a dance, thinking he's more worthy than the soldiers and sailors there because he sees himself as a great creative artist.

* LargeHam: As noted, the actors portraying Lipnick (Creator/MichaelLerner) and Geisler (Creator/TonyShalhoub) have the times of their lives shouting their way through their roles. Creator/JohnGoodman is clearly enjoying himself as well during Charlie's [[spoiler: rampage in the burning hotel]].
* LateArrivalSpoiler:The main menu of the DVD spoils almost everything about the ending.

** Fink himself is a self-pitying, pompous hypocrite and a one-trick pony as a writer. He once refused to let a sailor dance with the pretty girl, declaring he's an "artist" who "creates!"

** Barton makes a big deal about how his work deals with the lives and plights of the common man, yet when Charlie tries talking to him about his own experiences as a common man, Barton insists on talking over him about his own work. Barton is even more arrogant towards the soldiers and sailors at the dance party, insisting that he's the one entitled to the pretty girl because he's an "artist" who "creates!"
** [[spoiler:Charlie near the end of the movie points out that Barton is a tourist with a typewriter who complained about Charlie making too much noise. On the other hand, Charlie is a resident and has to put up with stuff like this on a regular basis.]]

* TheMisophonic: [[spoiler:Charlie subtly implies that Fink's typewriter is the one that's causing the most noise and is driving him mad, and yet Fink has made a noise complaint on Charlie earlier.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Charlie angrily snaps at Barton for refusing to listen and states that he decided to make Barton's life hell by killing his friends (and possibly relatives) for this slight. It's true that Barton was very condescending and dismissive towards Charlie: whenever Charlie tried to talk about his own experiences as a common man, Barton would just talk over him about his work while hypocritically talking about his respect for "the common man".]]

* WritersBlock: The movie is about a writer suffering from writer's block, written while the Coens themselves were having difficulty with ''Film/MillersCrossing''.

** Fink himself is a self-pitying, pompous hypocrite and a one-trick pony as a writer.

* TooDumbToLive: One could grant that Mastrionotti was caught off-guard by [[spoiler:Mundt producing a sawed-off shotgun from his bag, but Deutsch makes no attempt to defend himself or return fire despite presumably being armed as well, instead attempting to run until shot in the leg and then simply laying there helplessly while Mundt takes his time casually reloading, walking up to Deutsch, and executing him at point-blank range.]]

* TooDumbToLive: One could grant that Mastrionotti was caught off-guard by [[spoiler:Mundt producing a sawed-off shotgun from his bag, but Deutsch never makes any attempt to defend himself or return fire despite presumably being armed as well, instead attempting to run until shot in the leg and then simply laying there while Mundt casually reloads and executes him a point-blank range.]]

** Lipnick's attitude towards Barton sours significantly after receiving his script, and he harshly tells him off for writing some ''fruity movie about suffering''. On the other hand, if you're hired to write a wrestling picture, write a wrestling picture, not something else.

Getting a bad case of WritersBlock, he meets Charlie Meadows (Creator/JohnGoodman), an insurance salesman, novelist turned hack screenwriter "[[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed W.P.]] [[Creator/WilliamFaulkner Mayhew]]" (Creator/JohnMahoney), his mistress (Creator/JudyDavis), an [[LargeHam excitable]] producer (Creator/TonyShaloub), and a cast of others.

Getting a bad case of WritersBlock, he meets Charlie Meadows (Creator/JohnGoodman), an insurance salesman, novelist turned hack screenwriter "[[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed W.P.]] [[Creator/WilliamFaulkner Mayhew]]" (Creator/JohnMahoney), his mistress (Creator/JudyDavis), an [[LargeHam excitable]] producer, and a cast of others.

** Barton Fink himself is WritersSuck version of Clifford Odets.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Barton makes a big deal about how his work deals with the lives and plights of the common man, yet when Charlie tries talking to him about his own experiences as a common man, Barton insists on talking over him about his own work. Barton is even more arrogant towards the soldiers and sailors at the dance party, insisting that he's the one entitled to the pretty girl because he's an "artist" who "creates!"

** Lipnick's attitude towards Barton has soured significantly after receiving his script, and he harshly tells him off. On the other hand, if you're hired to write a wrestling picture, write a wrestling picture, not something else.

-->'''Lipnick:''' [[spoiler: You didn't let ME down. Or even Lou. We don't live or die by what you scribble, Fink. You let Ben Geisler down. He liked you. Trusted you. And that's why he's gone. Fired. That guy had a heart as big as the outdoors, and you fucked him. He tried to convince me to fire you too, but that would be too easy. No, you're under contract and you're gonna stay that way. Anything you write will be the property of Capitol Pictures. And Capitol Pictures will not produce anything you write. Not until you grow up a little. You ain't no writer, Fink – you're a goddamn write-off.]]

* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:Barton's dream of having his creativeness seen in Hollywood pictures is ultimately
fruitless.]]
* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Barton Fink chooses to write a deeply emotional drama instead of a cheap sports movie. [[spoiler: Rather than being impressed, Lipnick angrily punishes Barton for his insubordination by putting him under a contract that will not allow any of his work to be published unless he falls in line]].

* WritersSuck: Ben Geisler certainly thinks so. He once suggested that Fink find another writer to consult by throwing a rock hard; he will hit one.

* DeathBySex: [[spoiler:Audrey is killed after having sex with Barton.]]

* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler:Barton's dream of having his creativeness seen in Hollywood pictures is ultimately fruitless.]]

* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Charlie angrily snaps at Barton for refusing to listen and implies that he's made his life hell by killing his friends (and possibly relatives) for this slight. It is worth noting that Charlie tried to talk about his own experiences as a common man, only for Barton to talk over him about his work while hypocritically talking about his love for "the common man".]]

* WritersSuck: Ben Geisler certainly thinks so. He once suggested that Fink find another writer to consult by throwing a rock hard; he will hit one. Fink himself is a self-pitying, pompous hypocrite and a one-trick pony as a writer, and W.P. Mayhew is, as Geisler put it, a souse whose later novels are mostly hack jobs ghost-written for him by his secretary/mistress.

** Geisler is hostile and obnoxious to Barton from the get-go, his attitude becomes more justified when Barton hasn't written anything after being employed for weeks.

* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Charlie angrily snaps at Barton for refusing to listen, and implies that he's made his life hell by killing his friends (and possibly relatives) for this slight. It is worth noting that Dharlie tried to talk about his own experiences as a common man, only for Barton to talk over him about his work while hypocritically talking about his love for "the common man".]]

* {{Hypocrite}}: Barton makes a big deal about how his work deals with the plights of the common man, yet when Charlie tries talking to him about his own experiences as a common man, Barton insists on talking over him about his own work. Barton is even more arrogant towards the soldiers and sailors at the dance party, insisting that he's the one entitled to the pretty girl because he's an "artist" who "creates!"

* VillainHasAPoint: [[spoiler:Charlie angrily snaps at Barton for refusing to listen. It is worth noting that he tried to talk about his own experiences as a common man, only for Barton to talk over him about his work.]]

** [[spoiler:Charlie angrily snaps at Barton for refusing to listen. It is worth noting that he tried to talk about his own experiences as a common man, only for Barton to talk over him about his work.]]

* BerserkButton: Evidently, being disrespected, slighted or ignored for Charlie.

* BoomerangBigot: Lipnick, himself (stereotypically) Jewish, using anti-Semitic slurs towards Barton.
* BrokenPedestal: Barton is disappointed over W.P. Mayhew turning out to be a drunk who wastes his writing talent as well as a {{Domestic Abuse}}r to Audrey. [[spoiler:In addition, Lipnick, who has been welcoming Barton with open arms throughout the movie, becomes disillusioned with him after reading his script at the end.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The film is set in 1941. For no particular reason, the anti-Semitic detectives are given a German and an Italian name (Deutsch and Mastrionotti) to evoke the Axis powers, and [[spoiler:Meadows/Mundt]] (who also has a German name) says "Heil Hitler" before [[spoiler:killing one of them]]. However, WordOfGod says this is really just [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic symbolism for symbolism's (scary) sake]], not necessarily with a real message attached.
** Not to mention that it is Barton's first movie, around the same time as the first for Creator/OrsonWelles.

* JerkassHasAPoint: Lipnick's attitude towards Barton has soured significantly after receiving his script, and he harshly tells him off. On the other hand, if you're hired to write a wrestling picture, write a wrestling picture, not something else.

* KickTheDog: Lipnick unjustly firing Lou. Although since Lou is seen working for him later, Lipnick either changed his mind or didn't go through with it.

** After seeing [[spoiler:Audrey's body]], Charlie goes to the bathroom to throw up, but the actual shot is not seen [[spoiler: (partly because Charlie was faking his reaction, since he was the one who murdered Audrey and would have not have thrown up in reaction to seeing her body).]]
* WhamLine: The very last line of the movie. When Fink calls the woman at the beach very beautiful and asks if she's in pictures, she replies "Don't be silly." This could be interpreted to mean that the best things do not belong in the pictures. That she's ''too'' beautiful for Hollywood and, consequently, that Fink's writing is too good for it. Hollywood is not the shining city on a hill and the ultimate goal of any writer as he saw it, it is a sleazy and uncreative place, more interested in money than art. The woman is better off on the modest beach and Fink would have been better off staying on Broadway.

* WritersBlockMontage: Of course.
* WritersSuck: Ben Geisler certainly thinks so. He once suggested that Fink find another writer to consult by throwing a rock hard; he will hit one. Fink himself is a self-pitying, pompous hypocrite and a one-trick pony as a writer. Then again, WritersAreWriters.
** W.P. Mayhew as well. His later novels were mostly hack jobs ghost-written for him by his secretary/mistress.

* EnvironmentalSymbolism: There is a sharp contrast between Fink's living quarters and the polished, pristine environs of Hollywood, especially the home of Jack Lipnick. The spooky, inexplicably empty feel of the Hotel Earle was central to the Coens' conception of the film. "We wanted an art deco stylization", Joel explained in a 1991 interview, "and a place that was falling into ruin after having seen better days".
** Barton's room is sparsely furnished with two large windows facing another building. The Coens later described the hotel as a "ghost ship floating adrift, where you notice signs of the presence of other passengers, without ever laying eyes on any". In the film, residents' shoes are an indication of this unseen presence; another rare sign of other inhabitants is the sound from adjacent rooms. Joel said: "You can imagine it peopled by failed commercial travelers, with pathetic sex lives, who cry alone in their rooms".
** Heat and moisture are other important elements of the setting. The wallpaper in Barton's room peels and droops; Charlie experiences the same problem and guesses heat is the cause. The Coens used green and yellow colors liberally in designing the hotel "to suggest an aura of putrefaction".
** The atmosphere of the hotel was meant to connect with Charlie. As Joel explained: "Our intention, moreover, was that the hotel function as an exteriorization of the character played by John Goodman. The sweat drips off his forehead like the paper peels off the walls. At the end, when Goodman says that he is a prisoner of his own mental state, that this is like some kind of hell, it was necessary for the hotel to have already suggested something infernal." The peeling wallpaper and the paste which seeps through it also mirror Charlie's chronic ear infection and the resultant pus.
** In contrast, the offices of Capitol Pictures and Lipnick's house are pristine, lavishly decorated, and extremely comfortable. The company's rooms are bathed in sunlight, and Ben Geisler's office faces a lush array of flora. Barton meets Lipnick in one scene beside an enormous, spotless swimming pool. This echoes his position as studio head, as he explains: "...you can't always be honest, not with the sharks swimming around this town ... if I'd been totally honest, I wouldn't be within a mile of this pool – unless I was cleaning it." In his office, Lipnick showcases another trophy of his power: statues of Atlas, the Titan of Greek mythology who declared war on the gods of Mount Olympus and was severely punished.[25]

* AmbiguousDisorder: [[spoiler: To say Charlie has some kind of mental disorder is putting it mildly. His willingness to murder over getting a noise complaint shows he has a lack of impulse control. This is on top of superficial charm and manipulative tendencies]].

* LargeHam: As noted, the actors portraying Lipnick (Creator/MichaelLerner) and Geisler (Creator/TonyShalhoub) have the times of their lives with their roles. Creator/JohnGoodman is clearly enjoying himself as well during Charlie's [[spoiler: rampage in the burning hotel]].

* LargeHam: As noted, the producer and executive have the times of their lives with their roles.

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler: Charlie/KArl may be a vicious serial killer, but he does set a handcuffed Fink free instead of leaving him to die in the burning hotel.]]

* PetTheDog: [[spoiler: Charlie/Mundt may be a vicious serial killer, but he does set a handcuffed Fink free instead of leaving him to die in the burning hotel.]]

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The film is set in 1941. For no particular reason, the anti-Semitic detectives are given a German and an Italian name (Deutsch and Mastrionotti) to evoke the Axis powers, and [[spoiler:Charlie/Mundt]] (who also has a German name) says "Heil Hitler" before [[spoiler:killing one of them]]. However, WordOfGod says this is really just [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic symbolism for symbolism's (scary) sake]], not necessarily with a real message attached.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Pretty much how Jack Lipnick makes all his studio decisions. To wit, [[spoiler:After reading Barton's ''Burlyman'' script he hates it. Rather than firing Barton or having the script rewritten, he gets enraged and forces Barton to stay under contract to Capitol Pictures while also refusing to film anything he writes. He also fires Ben Geisler just for being Barton's producer, even though Geisler ''didn't want the job in the first place'', and ignores when Geisler tells him to fire Fink too.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Lipnick's viewpoint on Barton has soured significantly after receiving his script, and he harshly tells Barton off. On the other hand, if you're hired to write a wrestling picture, write a wrestling picture, not something else.

* MagnumOpus: Fink thinks he has written his at the end of the story. But since he was supposed to be writing a StrictlyFormula wrestling flick, all he achieves is [[spoiler:getting his supervisor fired and himself locked into a contract where the studio will never produce anything he writes. At least not until he "grows up."]]

* WritersSuck: Ben Geisler certainly thinks so. He once suggested that Fink find another writer to consult by throwing a rock hard; he will hit one. Fink himself is a self-pitying, pompous hypocrite. Then again, WritersAreWriters.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Pretty much how Jack Lipnick makes all his studio decisions. To wit, [[spoiler:After reading Barton's ''Burlyman'' script he hates it. Rather than firing Barton or having the script rewritten, he gets enraged and forces Barton to stay under contract to Capitol Pictures while also refusing to film anything he writes. He also fires Ben Geiszler just for being Barton's producer, even though Geiszler ''didn't want the job in the first place'', and ignores when Geiszler tells him to fire Fink too.]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: If you're hired to write a wrestling picture, write a wrestling picture, not something else.

* LoserProtagonist: Barton himself, [[spoiler:especially how Lipnick finally turns on him at the end and makes him a pariah amongst the Hollywood industry by not allowing any of his works to be produced. By the end of the film, Barton's life is basically over.]]

-->''Bare Ruined Choirs'' ends with "We'll be hearing from that kid, and I don't mean a postcard"
-->''The Burlyman'' ends with "We'll be hearing from that crazy wrestler, and I don't mean a postcard."

-->'''Barton Fink:''' He... he said he liked Jack Oakie pictures.
-->''beat''
-->'''Detective Mastrionotti:''' You know, ordinarily we say anything you might remember could be helpful. But I'll be frank with you, Fink. That is not helpful.
-->'''Detective Deutsch:''' Notice he's not writing it down.