Barton fink

[sirdizzy]

Ok I got a few questions, the movie was for the most part ok. It was a little slow going in the beginning but the movie was simply great when John Goodman was on the screen and the ending was pretty good.

What was in the packages (I was guessing one of his parents heads)?

Did he kill his parents and Uncle?

What was in the apartment and the reason he would never let Fink in?

Do we just assume Goodman died at the end of the film?

[The Postmaster General]

We never find out what was in the package.

It's never confirmed whether or not Charlie killed anyone, but he is being investigated for being a serial killer, and his final actions do not help his case.

Your guess is as good as mine.

What do you think?

[Gordon]

What do you think?

He showed us a life of the mind.

*By "never killed anyone" I assume you're excluding the dude he shot in the face?

[The Postmaster General]

Yeah, they were in his way so that doesn't count, but like I said, it didn't add any weight to his defense.

[HoyleHaw]

What was in the package?
While it is true that we never find out, I think it was suggested that it was Audrey's head.

Charlie sells "a piece of mind" and a woman is found missing her head. W.P. Mayhew, the Faulkner-esque writer, is also reportedly found dead.

I have no idea what became of the Fink clan, other than Barton could not get hold of any of them, and Charlie already said he paid them a visit. Since Barton is who he is, a writer who isn't terribly tied-down by his family, I don't know if it really matters story-wise.

I'll need to watch again regarding him not letting Barton in the apartment.

It doesn't matter if Mundts died or not (though I think he probably did), because that last scene is sort of a good bye for Barton. It's all about Barton anyway.

Oh, and yeah, Charlie kills people. He's a serial killer, going under an alias, with a duality complex (not multiple personalities, but still).

[Gordon]

What was in the package?
While it is true that we never find out, I think it was suggested that it was Audrey's head.

Charlie sells "a piece of mind" and a woman is found missing her head. W.P. Mayhew, the Faulkner-esque writer, is also reportedly found dead.

I have no idea what became of the Fink clan, other than Barton could not get hold of any of them, and Charlie already said he paid them a visit. Since Barton is who he is, a writer who isn't terribly tied-down by his family, I don't know if it really matters story-wise.

I'll need to watch again regarding him not letting Barton in the apartment.

It doesn't matter if Mundts died or not (though I think he probably did), because that last scene is sort of a good bye for Barton. It's all about Barton anyway.

Oh, and yeah, Charlie kills people. He's a serial killer, going under an alias, with a duality complex (not multiple personalities, but still).


We all know this, they're all explicitly implied. Bubba was just saying that they purposefully do all of it in such an ambiguous manner that they're attempting to allow people to come to their own conclusions. Thusly no one can for certain answer any of the questions.

[The Postmaster General]

As Al Sharpton may say it, "To me, Barton Fink's appeal lies in the beauty of its ambiguity."

[ScaryFreak1827]

Just watched Barton Fink and thought it was great; it reminded me so much of a David Lynch movie from the plot to the atmosphere to the open questions. I'm trying to decide what was in the package and someone on IMDB thought it might be his "ideas." Maybe everything involving John Goodman's character, the detectives, etc. was all in his mind and was actually the screenplay he was writing. That's what I love about this movie, there's no definitive answer.

[echo_bravo]

It seriously gets better everytime I see it. Wow what a great film!

[spacemonkey]

Just watched Barton Fink and thought it was great; it reminded me so much of a David Lynch movie

It also reminded me of a David Lynch film, specially when it came to the art direction. The wallpaper, the lamps, the long hallways, the lighting...all very similar to Lynch's style.