Just finished watching "Barton Funk" by the Coen Brothers, which has been called the Coen Brothers' most difficult movie to understand. A few thoughts:
1. Story level: I think most of the movies that the audience sees are the madness or hallucinations that the male protagonist falls into during the creative process. The male protagonist got stuck in the process of writing the script for Hollywood, and imagined a "Charlie" to inspire him. "Charlie" is actually the male protagonist himself. The male protagonist killed the female secretary himself and imagined that "Charlie" helped dispose of the corpse. When the movie was finally handed over, the male protagonist kept the carton "Charlie" left him in his hand; in the end, when he was at the beach, the male protagonist didn't hear the beauty's words clearly, and the action of rubbing his ears also echoed Charlie's purulent ears in front of him, indicating that the male protagonist And "Charlie" is actually one person. In the movie, all the scenes in the hotel are the spiritual world of the male protagonist, and the Hollywood filmmakers and so on that I meet after leaving the hotel are real.
The alcoholic writer and his female secretary are real, and the female secretary did come to the male lead's room late at night to help him write.
2. Image level: It is a story of a playwright who thinks he speaks for the public, but does not pay attention to the voice of the bottom people and is divorced from the public. He relies on plagiarism to complete his own work. The entire film is almost metaphorical. 2.1 Charlie represents the people at the bottom who are disdain for the male protagonist to really understand or even have the patience to listen. (The most magical part of the film, the male protagonist asks: Why me? Charlie answers: Because you don't listen!) 2.2 Part of the male protagonist's inspiration comes from Charlie (that is, his own inspiration), but most of it is done by the female secretary of. "Charlie" left the paper box with the head of the female secretary to the male protagonist, saying "this will help your writing", implying that the male protagonist's works are completed by the female secretary. 2.3 The pictures of seaside beauties on the wall of the hotel room symbolize the ideal creative realm in the male protagonist's heart, and the sea represents inspiration (the male protagonist is submerged by the sea when he first enters the hotel). At the end of the movie, the male protagonist entered the scene in the photo with a paper box. The beauty by the sea asked him what was in the box. He said he didn't know, and the beauty asked again: Isn't it yours? The male protagonist said: I don't know. The work is the creation of the female secretary (the head of the female secretary), not his own.
2.4 The two policemen are the incarnations of real sailors in the male protagonist's mind. "Charlie" shot two policemen and rescued the male protagonist, shouting: I will show you the life of the mind. Representing the male protagonist's self-confidence in his brain power, after being humiliated by the sailor (representative of physical strength), he Desire to conquer them with their brain power (the police is the symbol of violence).
2.5 The male protagonist wants to put up wallpaper again and again, implying that he wants to be separated from the space where "Charlie" (the bottom person) lives.
2.6 The drama circle is full of plagiarism, even the famous writer Mei You.
2.7 In addition to representing inspiration, the female secretary also represents the male protagonist's subconscious desire for sex (Floyd?) After he entered the photo, he was also attracted by the appearance of beautiful women.
2.8 The Coen brothers have a negative view of Hollywood. In addition to the direct portrayal in the film, the male protagonist asked the beauty if she was in the film industry, and the beauty said in a contemptuous tone, "Stop joking", which means that the real creation should be out of the vulgar filmmaking circle of Hollywood.
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