Many film critics on the Internet are discussing which plots are reality and which are dreams (fantasies), but they can't agree. In my opinion, a script written in three weeks is not suitable for comprehensive deconstruction or detailed analysis; in fact, the Coen brothers themselves said the same, many things are just the brothers’ clever strokes, or improvisations that they have at their fingertips. It is naughty black humor, or it may be exaggerated postmodernism, which may not necessarily have deep meaning, and may not even stand up to scrutiny. From this point of view, whether Charlie is the product of Barton's split personality, whether the murder happened or not, and whether the box contains a head or not, is no longer important; different people can have different interpretations, and the director's version may not be able to convince you.
Compared with the obscure storyline, weird shooting style, and mixed film types, the idea that the director wants to express, that is, the theme of the film, is still relatively clear, which is discussed in more detail on Wikipedia. The first is the collision and compromise between the high-end culture represented by Broadway in New York and the low-end culture (popular culture) represented by Hollywood in California. The talented Barton succeeded in the former and lost in the latter. At first glance, mercenary, brain-crushing, formulaic Hollywood is the root of all evil, and the film's mockery of it is obvious (some people think that the mosquitoes in the movie and posters are a metaphor for the Hollywood model of the time, and there is some truth). But think about it carefully, Broadway in the film is by no means pure land, and traces of business can be seen everywhere; more importantly, isn't the so-called civilian culture that Barton pursues with all his heart the representative of movies? Therefore, this is just mutual envy inside and outside the siege, and there is no distinction between superior and inferior. What's more, Barton is actually just arrogant, which is evident from his repeated ignorance of "ordinary people" Charlie's confessions (which also became the reason for Charlie to frame him); so his failure is caused by the limitations of small people and the exploitative nature of the larger environment. of. The second clue of the film is the presentation of a screenwriter's creative process, which is also self-instructive: the Coen brothers encountered a bottleneck when writing the script for "The Gangster Fight", and then created the book on a whim. film; it's like Fellini's "Eight and a Half," a story of a director who was starved of inspiration at a time of lack of inspiration. Barton has always wanted to write a work that satisfies him, but suffers from lack of inspiration; after a series of events, the mysterious box makes him get what he wants, but his proud work is far from the requirements of commercialization; at the end of the film , with nothing, he walked to the beach with the box in his arms, and saw the beautiful woman in his dream; the box symbolized his former ideals and the perseverance in his heart, but at this time he no longer knew where to go...
The metaphors and associations that can be seen everywhere in the film, as well as the strong visual and auditory style, can be used to make a big book, but it is necessary to avoid excessive interpretation. I just want to reminisce about three classic scenes here: First, the boss of the high-ranking film company actually knelt down and kissed the foot of the writer Barton, which was in stark contrast to his swearing later; second, Charlie killed two people with The police with German and Italian names and hating Jews has a lot to do with the World War II era background of the film; third, Barton finally encountered the exact same scene as the mural in the room, and this open ending further blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy .
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