joem18b Blog

Watched Barton Fink again after 15 years. That's 15 years of additional exposure to John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, and Judy Davis. Make a difference? Once the movie was rolling, I don't think so. They all have the chops to make me forget everything that I know about them and accept what I'm seeing on the screen.

Which reminds me of recent discussions about whether Angelina Jolie can star in a movie without distracting the viewer with thoughts of her offscreen celebrity; the consensus on "A Mighty Heart" seems to be that she can.

Barton Fink holds up for me. Could have been made yesterday. Every shot evokes the 40s. Bright colors

but with that dark gold light that sybolizes L.A. and Hollywood back at the end of the Deco days. All right, I have no idea what the hell I'm talking about, but the color and lighting in Barton Fink are as important as any of the actors. A pleasure to just sit and enjoy the look of the film. Is there a word for nostalgia for a time you never actually knew?

My spouse suprised me at the end of the movie by asking me what I thought it all meant - did he die and go to heaven, or hell, or what? Questions of symbolism never occured to me; I took the story as straight narrative.