Barton Fink is a 1991 American period black comedy psychological thriller film written, produced, edited and directed by the Coen brothers. 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 film studio in Hollywood, and John Goodman as Charlie Meadows, the insurance salesman who lives next door at the run-down Hotel Earle.
Theatrical release poster
The Coen brothers wrote the role of Charlie Meadows for actor John Goodman, in part because of the "warm and friendly image that he projects for the viewer".
The Coen brothers said of writing Barton Fink: "We didn't do any research, actually, at all."
Restaurant scenes set in New York at the start of Barton Fink were filmed inside the RMS Queen Mary ocean liner.
Joel Daniel Coen and Ethan Jesse Coen, together known as the Coen brothers, are an American filmmaking duo. Their films span many genres and styles, which they frequently subvert or parody. Their most acclaimed works include Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010) and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Many of their films are distinctly American, often examining the culture of the American South and American West in both modern and historical contexts.
Ethan (left) and Joel Coen, at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
Ethan and Joel at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival
With Javier Bardem at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival
The Coens, presidents of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival jury
