The Coen Brothers hardly ever make a "straightforward" film - there's always something there to make you scratch your head, whether it's the looming tornado of A Serious Man, the frustrating cycle of Inside Llewyn Davis, or the unexplainable villain of No Country for Old Men. But their fourth directorial effort - a film which the brothers penned in three weeks during a bout of writer's block while filming Miller's Crossing - became something of a cult classic, largely due to the heavy symbolism and the endlessly complex finale. Barton Fink begins as a simple tale of a moderately famous playwright enticed to Hollywood to write for the pictures. Barton arrives, meets with colourful Californians, and begins writing - but a slow descent to a dark place has been occurring all the while. Barton's strange, sudden friendship with John Goodman's Charlie Meadows is both the crux of the film and the source of critical discussion. Charlie is one of Goodman's greatest roles - if not his greatest - and the impenetrability of his character only seems to intensify as the movie progresses. The symbolism is heavy throughout Barton Fink, but Goodman's character continues to drive the analysis of the film more than a decade after its release. There is little doubt that Barton Fink is the Coens' weirdest, most oblique film - but it's also one of their best.
