A romance of sorts ensues between Fink and Taylor, but it is slow lived, due to the fact that Fink wakes up next to a very dead and bloody Taylor. How did she die? We don't know. Barton contacts Charlie, who seems to know what to do in the situation and hauls the body away.
Charlie, about to hit the road to sell "insurance" (or is he buying souls?), hands Fink a package, which is creepily just the right size for a human...well, head. We don't know what's in the package, but somehow it inspires Fink to finish his screenplay.
Meanwhile, police detectives investigating a string of murders visit Fink, wanting to know if he knows a man they call "Madman Mundt," their suspect, who also happens to be Charlie.
Now, that might sound like a lot, but there's much more happening beneath the surface, little clues and hints that a careful viewer should keep track of. What does the Hotel Earle represent? Why is Fink's room only hot when Charlie is around? Why does the wallpaper in Fink's room continually peel off the wall? And how come, when Charlie returns from his road trip and is cornered by the police, do the walls burst into flame?
It would be easy to say that the Hotel Earle is Hell and Charlie is, well...SATAN! Or is he?
This is a great film for discussion, because there are lots of other possibilities as to what is going on. After all, what happens when we become sick? Well, sometimes we run a fever, and we might have a fever dream. Was Barton Fink delirious and hallucinating, or dreaming? And what to make of the final scene, with Fink at the beach, joined by a mysterious woman — and a plummeting bird that crashes into the ocean (which, apparently, was unintentional — a bird did fall into the ocean, and Joel Coen left it in the shot).
Barton Fink is a fascinating film, and yes, it's also frustrating. What does it all mean? Personally, I'd fall into the camp saying the Hotel Earle (maybe even Hollywood itself) is Hell and Charlie is the devil, but others might have different ideas. I'd be curious to know what others think, so leave your comments if you have an opinion.
**** out of ****
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Article comments
1 - Tan The Man
This was a pretty good movie. The use of sound alone makes it great for film critique on technique.
2 - Scott C. Smith
Excellent point about sound. There are a number of sound motifs utilized, from the crashing of ocean waves on a beach to bells -- all kinds of bells, even the sound of the wallpaper peeling from the walls.
Did you happen to noice throughout the film that, whenever Barton would stand in front of that print of the beach in his hotel room, you'd hear the sound of the ocean? And, towards the end, after finishing the screenplay and discovering that his "common man" was a serial killer, that he no longer heard the roar of the ocean when he'd go look at the print?
3 - Tan The Man
I noticed that the sound started, I never did when it ended...
4 - Munro
Also, whenever he opens his door there is the sound as though he is opening an air sealed lock, as though Fink is seperated from "The Common Man." Fink's room is seperate from the other building, also it doesn't catch fire at the end.
If Charlie is the Devil, and he sells "peace of mind." What did Fink pay, his soul, to be free of the police and be able to finish his work, which, ends exactly the same way as his first play?
5 - Doug
This article had that "Barton Fink feeling."
6 - austin1783
I believe this movie represents a great deal of many things. Most prominently: The rise of fascism because of liberal pussyfooting. Barton Fink is an obvious allegory to the holocaust. Fink, a jew, and also a socialist, constantly tries to relate to the "common man," however, he doesn't do this at all. He checks into a sleazy hotel to try to live like common people, but immediately complains about the noise. He doesn't even go out into the world, he secludes himself in his room. To make him even more of a hypocrite, he takes money from the big corporation when he knows it would spoil his creativity. When Charlie, the common man, is introduced, Fink can't relate to him at all and is even a little annoyed at him. Charlie, who we later find out is a serial killer, obviously represents fascism. The two detectives, whose names are italian and german (the axis powers) constantly harass Fink. And later, when Charlie executes them, he mutters "Heil Hitler."
I believe that Barton and Charlie are the same individual, just different personalities. Barton represents mind and Charlie represents body. This would explain why the detectives arrest Fink, and why Charlie frees Fink at the end. And, if Fink represents socialism and Charlie represents fascism, then one can conclude that the main point of the story is that socialism and fascism are one in the same. Because of the left's hypocrisy and assumption on how life should be lived, the "nice guy next door" (Charlie/Nazi Europe) is revealed to be a murderer.
7 - Tim
Austin- that's just ridiculous. Blame liberals for the holocaust. Where in the movie does it say that Fink is a socialist? My guess is that you see socialists under your bed at night.