The Coen Brothers...

This weekend, I rented a few movies directed by the Ethan and Joel, and more than anything, this is just an analysis of "Barton Fink" which is a brilliant film. I hope that you Mauro, will go rent this (again?) and compare notes to things that made you go "hmmm". Keep in mind at the end of each post you can post a comment to which I can respond, etc.
At first, I thought that The Earle itself was hell, but now am inclined to think that it’s one of the many regions of hell. One indicant that supports this is Mayhew’s reference to “all good writers end up in Hollywood at some point” and then something to the affect that “maybe that’s why we’ve developed such a strong thirst”, obviously implying the heat of hell. I’m sure you noticed the 666 reference when he enters the elevator; “6 please”, “next stop 6”, and finally, “this stop, 6”. The shoes outside the door waiting for collection to shine are symbols of transportation to me. I infer that it somehow represents their abandonment, burning of a bridge if you will, of transport to another dimension…at least temporarily because most all of them actually come to put them on again. It’s so obvious when you realize that this is a main theme all the expletives are not without import…”Jesus, that’s a load off.” “Ah, hell” “Well that be damned and I just feel like hell about it”.
I find the mosquitoes interesting, because as Charlie (Goodman) notes, mosquitoes aren’t suppose to sustain well in arid environments; however, there omnipresent in this hell-hole (pun intended). I think that this is a representation of a major theme in the movie which is Fink’s constant ‘shutting out’ of basic feelings of man. Mauro, you’ve read much more Nietzsche than have I and consequently will probably understand immediately the importance of this theme. According to Nietzsche’s theories, beauty in art is derived from everything irrational in human beings; true beauty can not be calculated, it isn’t a derivative of logic or rational thoughts, rather the darker, deeper, more barbaric and primitive the sentiments and state of being, the more beautiful and pure the art…this is what I understand. (In one example of this, the Coen brothers show us in hell, Charlie is fully aware of man’s desires and their constancy in hiding them when Charlie shows the underside of his tie that dons a naked woman). So we have Fink who has always tended to the intellect for his plays (he’s from NYC for Shiite’s sake) and has now come to Hollywood to get a decent paycheck. He constantly claims that he’s writing for the common man, and the only way to get to real theatre, real art, real beauty is by experiencing pain, yet he hasn’t reached that nadir yet. In relation to this, I found that he constantly cut off Charlie in his anecdotes, shutting out the element of man that’s always been privy to him, and at the same time the very thing he must confront in order to achieve that which is his desire. Audrey is another example of him shutting out the basic inclinations of man. In the end, he gives in to the avatar of examples in man’s ultimate desire for a woman. In this scene, we hear Audrey again say that “all anyone needs is a little understanding” which is the point of understanding the truer nature of our deeper selves. I also note the importance of her saying, “sometimes instead of a waif, Bill would chose to protect an idiot man-child; the studio hated that…some of the scripts were so…spirited.” I see this as society rejecting (hating) the idea of having to protect the very thing it has always protected; like wanting it to remain hidden and now it’s exposed as the veritable action we’ve always taken. Keep in mind, “spirited” is not just a random word, for the Coen brothers aren’t profligate in any way; as is the import of “idiot man-child” referring to the mind as the most essential quality of man.
When he wakes, he slips down the cover and finds a mosquito drawing blood from Audrey; this will allow me to expound the importance of the insect in saying that it represents a fundamental aspect of nature and life. The mosquito wanting to “draw out” that which it needs from the liquid of our lives, and more importantly the rejection that Fink displays in swatting it is in concordance with his rejection of the common man; blood splatters in a nice clean circle (circle of life) and reveals to him that which is inevitable…”it is, you mustn’t deny it Fink.” In this instance of rejecting one of nature’s events, he finds that he has killed the thing that was trying to show him the way to himself. Again, he has pushed out the idea of the common man, as he did with Charlie, as he has done with himself.
In regard to the mind vs. the deeper element, Charlie constantly is trying to “help” Fink realize his mistake. He misquotes at one point, “what’s that phrase…where there’s a head, there’s hope?” Fink quickly corrects, “No Charlie, where there’s LIFE there’s hope” without realizing the essence. Another statement that Charlie makes, the Coens are soooo brilliant, “I understand Bart, when things get all messed up at the head office, it can make your life hell.” A very interesting scene is when Charlie is taking away Audrey’s body, her head hits the dresser on the way out…this can not be a coincidence. Just after this, Barton’s head falls back and hits the bathroom wall and he passes out only to be awaken by Charlie who is slapping his face. Charlie at another point walks out, saying, “this must be hell to a guy like you…you know, a guy from New York” (citing the intellect) then walks out hitting his head saying, “this heat”. These are all things that can be easily missed but are so important to the thematic expression they’re driving at. Finally, when Lipnick says, “your mind is the property of Capitol Pictures and Capitol Pictures isn’t going to produce anything you produce.” I think that it’s a way of the writer’s saying, so what…art doesn’t originate from the mind, so have it! **When Charlie delivers the “parcel” to Fink and says something to the affect of, “nothing important, just some personal things I didn’t want to drag along. Amazing isn’t it? Everything that’s important, all the things ya wanna keep from a lifetime, you can fit into a little box.” When Fink walks out of the room, out of hell, he is walking with the parcel which represents his head being detached from his body…he’s walking with it, but it’s not the thing that is the drive of all else. Finally, he is free from the “hell” that has contained him…his mind.
There are really many other things that I noticed, but can’t find a congruent thought to follow it that is sound.

I also watched “Blood Simple” and “Hudsucker Proxy” with “Barton Fink” and found them very interesting in so many facets; however, BF remained the better of the three and had me smiling with my head shaking, “no way!” These brother’s are certainly becoming a favorite of mine, and I can see that watching there movies several times over will bring more and more realizations of things missed, but things that add to their ultimate explication of something that is important to them, something that the main audience have missed so far.