Naked Lunch (1991) and Barton Fink (1991) were both released in the same year. They are similar films, as they both deal with writers. More specifically, they cinematically recreate the literary process. This might seem difficult to dramatise, as by definition writing is a mental exercise. Filmmakers David Cronenberg and the Coen Brothers use the typewriter as a motif to dramatise this process. In Cronenberg’s film, typewriters transmute into insects and strange creatures. The Coen Brothers’ often focus on the typewriter via close-ups. In both cases, the actual process reflects themes that the writers cover. Naked Lunch is very loosely based on the novel by William Burroughs. However, it is first and foremost a biopic and, more accurately, a film that recreates how Burroughs wrote the book. Whilst he writes it, the typewriters transform into strange creatures that mirror several of this literary themes. Cronenberg stated the following in an interview:
The reason why I have gone back to Burroughs directly, a man whose
writing has been such an influence on me, was really to examine the
process of human creativity – why you create worlds, structures and
imagery. Why do you do that? What is the impulse? Where does it come
from? How does it work? Does it do what you want it to do? (Beker
1992).
Several
of Burroughs’ literary themes surface in the film.
These include drug use, libertarianism, cosmopolitanism and paranoia.
This essay will examine how
the film recreates these themes.
Meanwhile, Barton Fink
is only obliquely based on Clifford Odets. Similarly,
there is another character called W. P. Mayhew who is obliquely based
on William Faulkner. Really, the Coens’ create a self-contained
world that is not historically accurate. Tellingly, Barton Fink is a
pretentious and pompous character who is often mocked by the Coens.
Indeed, they called Odets ‘naive’ (p. 173, Cement and Niogret
2006). Cronenberg admired Burroughs greatly, and the film does indeed
pay tribute to him, but Odets’ pretensions are lampooned by
Coens.
The film was written when the Coens were experiencing writer’s
block whilst writing Millers’ Crossing (1990)
and it actively explores the writing process. Fink struggles to write
and many scenes in the film depict him immersed in the writing
process. Like Naked Lunch,
the typewriter is a crucial aspect in Fink’s literary process.
Odets was active in left-wing politics and, like Odets, wants to
create plays that lionise ‘the common man.’ In the film, he can
only create when he is alone and he is highly misanthropic. Like
Naked Lunch, the main
theme of his writing surfaces whilst he is involved in the literary
process – the common man. This essay will analyse how these two
films recreate literary creativity and the literary process.
This
essay will look at how Cronenberg recreates Burroughs’ themes. It
will start by looking at how Burroughs’ became interested in such
themes. Drugs were one of the most central themes in Burroughs’
fiction. Most of the characters in his novels seek it because they
are libertarian-minded, want to break the law and seek hallucinogenic
experiences. Burroughs began experimenting with drugs in 1944, which
is highly unusual as drug use had been disrupted by the Second World
War (Birmingham 2009). However, its regulation was laxer during this
period and Burroughs took advantage of this. Interest in heroin was
largely nostalgic, as it evoked memories of the 19th
century Romantic/Decadent era, namely poems like Kubla Khan.
For Burroughs, it was specifically an attempt to shed his
aristocratic upper-class upbringing. He eventually moved to Mexico so
that he could avoid American drug laws. He eventually moved to
Tangiers in Morocco, which enabled him to live under laxer drug laws,
meet other bohemians and escape America’s stuffy, moralist and
puritanical attitude. Although Burroughs came from an aristocratic
background, and because of his knowledge of medicine, he was able to
access hard drugs. He relied on his class, education and race to
circumvent doctors and the law. Additionally, drug use for Burroughs
was an attempts at miscegenation. It involved racial mixing and
tainted blood lines. At one point, Burroughs curiously believed that
he had transformed into a black woman after consuming heroin.
Finally, drug use for Burroughs was also sexual and it was strongly
associated with homosexual sex (Birmingham).
In
keeping with Burroughs’ writing, most of the scenes in Naked
Lunch are drug-induced. However, when Burroughs drifts into his
bizarre hallucinations, several of Burroughs’ themes surface.
Pivotally, Burroughs hallucinates whenever he is writing on his
typewriter, which highlights how central drugs are to his literary
process. In the film, Burroughs’ typewriter often transforms into
creatures that mirror aspects of Burroughs’ writing. Burroughs made
much of the fact that he once worked as an exterminator and insects
often permeate his writing. The typewriter transforms into a
cockroach and it speaks through an anus attached at its back, which
references the ‘Talking Asshole’ sketch in Burroughs’ novel.
The insect-cum-typewriter often talks about ‘government secrets’
and ‘agents,’ which references themes about paranoia. Hence, the
typewriter physically embodies all of these themes. The typewriter is
essentially an externalisation of the literary process and it has
been induced through drug use. Later in the novel, Burroughs has
surreal sex which is arrived at via typing into a typewriter and drug
use. However, it is heterosexual, largely because Cronenberg, as an
heterosexual man, felt more comfortable doing this.
As
this essay has already indicated, Burroughs’ interest in drugs was
a by-product of his libertarian politics. Burroughs hated government
interference and he loved guns, but he was not politically active.
When politics intervened in his private life, he would simply move
away to places like Tangiers, Mexico or France (Wills 2016). His
novels often feature authoritarian figures – doctors, lawyers and
shifty bureaucrats – who often stifle the freedom of individuals.
Indeed, Burroughs envisaged systems of control and his novels often
feature oppressive bureaucracies. He thought that artists, not
politicians, are the agents of change. Hence, his novels often
feature characters who rebel against these oppressive systems and who
often try to change the order of things (Wills).
We
see several authoritarian figures in Cronenberg’s film, many of
whom are the product of Burroughs’ drug-induced fantasies. However,
early on in the film Burroughs encounters some police officers who
believe that Burroughs is once more taking drugs. We see a mid-shot
of the officers confronting Burroughs. The colour is slightly
saturated, there is light on half of Burroughs’ face whereas the
rest of the frame, which the drug enforcement officers occupy, is
obscured. The effect of this is that it makes the figures of
authority seem morally dubious, as they enforce amoral and arbitrary
laws.. There is a lot of depth of field in this mid-shot. The two
authoritarian figures are obsucred whereas Burroughs is brought to
prominence, which establishes a hero vs. villain and authority vs.
liberty binary. The film seems to side with Burroughs’ libertarian
and anarchist interests, even though it would be just as easy to side
with law and order. Here – as in Burroughs’ writing – it is
seen as an arbitrary law which is not determined by real moral
values. Also, the government is actively interfering into his private
life and there is whole bureaucracy that catalogues his life and
habits: ‘You have quite a record, Bill.’ Interestingly, the sound
of typewriters permeate this scene, although they are ostensibly used
for administrative purposes. It still reifies the literary themes
that permeate the film.
This
is one of the few scenes set in something remotely resembling the
‘real world.’ However, libertarian themes often permeate
Burroughs’ drug-induced fantasies. One would suspect that one of
the main reasons why Burroughs takes drugs is to escape from reality.
However, even in his parallel realities he is often hounded by
imaginary governments and bureaucracies. Hence, his hallucinations
are still highly paranoid and still feature these aspects. His
typewriter-cum-insect speaks about him being an ‘agent.’ The
typewriter tells him that he is an undercover agent who has been
telepathically convinced to murder his wife. Although he uses the
typewriter, his fiction and his drugs to escape from society and
authoritarian persecution, his paranoid fantasies cannot escape from
bureaucracy, authoritarianism and state interference. The
insect/typewriter mentions: ‘We found in our files that she was the
prime candidate for marriage,’ which suggests that this
drug-induced libertarian fantasy also harbours its own mass
bureaucracy. The insect/typewriter informs him that he is an
undercover agent that has been telepathically convinced to do this,
saying that this ‘does create ethical paradoxes.’ This would
suggest that Burroughs is not in control of his own volition. Indeed,
drug use does suggest a loss of control. If Burroughs has no control
over his own behaviour, and is instead acting at the behest of drugs,
is he really a libertarian? Libertarianism suggests human agency and
choice. During this interaction, the insect/typewriter is portrayed
via a 75 degree mid shot that dollies into a 75 degree close shot of
its ‘talking asshole.’ The use of the camera angle, which focuses
on the ‘talking asshole,’ emphasises how this entire scene is
part of Burroughs’ own literary process.
Cosmopolitanism
is another theme that permeates Burroughs’ writing, namely because
his novels are often set in Arabic countries and feature characters
from different parts of the world. Many of his settings are not even
set in a concrete place – such as ‘Interzone’ - and instead
seem to be places that are hallucinogenic composites of different
topographies. Interzone was inspired by Tangiers, as in the late
1950s it was a cosmopolitan place which bohemians and beatniks
frequented. Bohemians liked Tangiers because it was cosmopolitan, it
was ‘free’ and it also harboured spies, criminals, businessmen
and adventurers (Culture Trip 2016). It was tolerant place, where
marijuana was grown locally and it had a tolerant police force.
Indeed, more than two-hundred people arrived each month and they
sought to escape high taxes and socially prohibitive taboos
(Braeustrup 1964). Michael K. Walonen identifies Tangiers as a
‘place’; that is, it is conceptual. It is not a social place –
it is not a market economy or a specific given culture. Rather,
people who lived there chose to define it (p. 3, Walonen 2016). This
is very pertinent, as Tangiers for Burroughs morphed into Interzone,
a subjective fantasy. Interzone was Burroughs’ own subjective
interpretation of Tangiers. Indeed, many artists went to Tangiers to
experience something unusual or different (p. 9 Suver 2017). This is
very much in line with ‘Orientalist’ attitudes, as Burroughs
initially was scornful of the Moroccans. However, eventually the
political situation changed Burroughs’ mind. He actively enjoyed
seeing revolutionary riots in Tangiers (p. 9 ,Suver), which aligned
with his own anti-authoritarian tendencies.
Cosmopolitan themes are recreated in a striking scene in a bar in
Tangiers, where Burroughs writes. To begin with, the music in itself
is very cosmopolitan. It unites Arabic wind instruments with music by
free jazz saxophonist Ornette Coleman. Jazz is a quintessentially
American form of music. It started in the USA in the 1920s and it has
always been associated with literary bohemia. Indeed, Ornette Coleman
released his most influential album – The Shape of Jazz to Come
– the year that Naked Lunch was published. This fusion,
hence, also encapsulates the ethos of Interzone. Interestingly, these
two forms of music are not initially synchronised and they do indeed
eventually synchronise. Burroughs initially found Oriental culture
foreign and threatening, but he later embraced. Similarly, these
distinct forms of music are initially dissonant, but they soon start
to harmonise with one another. The timbre of Coleman’s saxophone is
quite similar to the those of the Arabic instruments, which might be
another way of represent the convergence of Oriental and American
cultures in this scene. Interzone is a merger of several cultures,
specifically Arabic and American cultures. In this scene, Burroughs
is in a bar writing alongside several Arabic and American characters.
The colour in the scene is murky and it is reminiscent of a 1950s
saloon. The suits are also reminiscent of this type of attire – the
suits and the glasses are reminiscent of 1950s chic – whereas the
Arabic characters wear Moroccan hats/attire. The clacking typewriters
once more continue the literary themes that permeate the previous
scenes.
This
particular scene starts with a high-angle mid-shot of Burroughs
typing on his typewriter. The camera soon tilts forward to reveal a
mid-shot solely comprised of Burroughs. The lighting once more brings
him to the foreground which, for the time being, makes him look like
an a singular individual who is immersed in an individual enterprise.
Meanwhile, the rest of the Arabs who are typing are more darkly lit.
The camera work soon edits to the rest of the Arabs, who are all
typing on their typewriters and the close-up shot pans across them,
levitating up and down. Later there is a mid-shot of two Arabs in the
centre and two Caucasians, who are all typing. There is a sense in
this scene that this is a synergetic fusion of literary creativity
and Oriental and occidental cultures. There is a sense that
literature is being used to converge these two distinct cultures.
Writing is usually solitary and private, but in this particular case
it is used to merge two distinct cultures. Writing is mental – or
‘metaphysical’ - but in this particular scene, mental activity
seems to be synergetic and cosmopolitan.
As
this essay has already identified, Burroughs often interacts with his
own typewriter and they voice his own literary preoccupations.
Another literary theme that is voiced by his insect-cum-typewriter is
paranoia, which are of course triggered by his drug use. His
libertarian politics are also highly paranoid, as he is constantly
running away from government ‘agents’ and Burroughs himself often
harboured strange conspiracy theories, such as belief in UFOs. Of
course, this paranoia often permeates the writing of other post-war
writers such as Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo, who
were reflecting anxieties about nuclear war and intrusive and covert
institutions like the CIA. In Cronenberg’s film, the typewriters
speak about ‘agents,’ hidden networks and nebulous individuals
who control outcomes. Burroughs writes ‘reports’ about Interzone,
as if he were an undercover agent. The typewriter-insect mentions
that that ‘there have been changes at the top,’ which suggest
that there is a hidden hierarchy which controls outcomes. The
typewriter mentions: ‘Homosexuality is the best all-round-cover an
agent ever had,’ which suggests that Burroughs is a spy who is sent
to Interzone and write reports. Also, homosexuality at the time was
illegal and considered depraved which, like the cosmopolitanism of
Tangiers, suggests ‘otherness’ and the unknown. Burroughs using
homosexuality to guise the fact that he is an undercover agent is
drug-induced paranoia, as in reality he was obviously a bohemian who
frequented Morocco and chased young boys for fun. Another major
aspect about paranoia is fear of persecution. In one notable scene,
Burroughs brings in another insect-shaped typewriter into his house
and his own ‘Clarknova’ attacks it, kills it and eats it up. This
typewriter shrieks and rattles its legs. His own typewriter says:
‘You should have known better than bringing an enemy agent into
your own home. You were giving her access to your innermost
vulnerabilities.’ There is constant fear of persecution. In this
particular instance, the typewriter-insect that is persecuting him
belongs to Joan who, according to his own paranoid delusions, he shot
as an undercover agent to gain access to Interzone. So, in this
particular case, this typewriter embodies his paranoia. It embodies
Burroughs’ own hatred of women – at one particular point, the
typewriter says ‘women aren’t human’ - as well as institutions
that spy and persecute. There is a lot of emphasis on special effects
and make up in this scene. The female typewriter is torn asunder and
bloodied. The camera angles are zoomed in to extreme close-ups, which
reveal the gruesome detail. This scene is darkly lit, which makes
this scene all the more macabre. Paranoia permeates the writing of
Burroughs’ and Cronenberg’s film. Cronenberg recreates this
particular theme in this scene by recreating the typewriters and
depicting a lot of gruesome detail, which is also in line with
Burroughs’ own acerbic writing.
This
essay will now turn to analyses of Barton Fink. Once
more it will look at how film recreates the literary process and it
will emphasise on how the typewriter is crucial in this process. The
eponymous character, Barton Fink, is loosely based on the 1930s
playwright Clifford Odets. Odets
shares several similarities with the Coen Brothers’ character. He
was part of ‘group theatre’ and success with left-wing social
realist plays, dreaming of radical social change. Like Fink, he later
moved to Hollywood in the 1930s to write screenplays. Odets lived
alone and wrote plays in an apartment so small that he had to rest
his typewriter on his lap, which is also similar to Fink’s
misanthropic and solitary habits. Odets wrote screenplays for
Hollywood that he called ‘fudge’ and ‘candy pie.’ He really
felt that he was achieving social change with his plays, but felt
that he was wasting his time writing light-hearted Hollywood movies.
This once more resembles Fink, who seems to be quite contemptuous of
Hollywood fare. Odets wanted to return to New York and write plays,
which is once more similar to Fink, who feels imprisoned in Hollywood
at the end of the film. Like Fink, he was also very self-regarding
and portentous. He raised his
fist on his death bed and shouted: ‘Clifford Odets, you have so
much to do!’ Unlike Burroughs, Odets grew up in poverty, which
informed his socialist politics. Odets also spoke loftily about the
‘common man,’ aiming to adopt their colloquialisms and writing
about their experiences. He aimed to write about homelessness,
poverty and exploitation. Despite this background, he did end up
mingling with the glitterati.
Despite being something of a socialite, he needed calm and isolation
to write, which once more resembles Barton Fink.
In the beginning of Barton
Fink, we see Fink’s play receive rapturous applause. Similarly,
Odet’s play Waiting for Lefty
received a wild reception two minutes after it started (New York
Times 2006).
Odet’s
own plays addressed his own politics. Thematically, he is
in some respects the complete opposite of Burroughs, as
Burroughs’ writing was
solipsistic and surreal. Odets also wrote in colloquial language
whereas Burroughs wrote in a deliberately abstruse, garbled, formless
and incoherent style. Burroughs
was an elitist and wrote for hip ‘underground’ audiences whereas
Odets’ writing was supposed to be universal and for ‘the masses.’
His plays received federal
funding from Roosevelt’s government, which wanted to make the
public aware about inequality and poverty.
Although Odets was a member
of the American communist party, he did not write as a communist
sympathiser. Rather, he wanted to reveal the humanity in people who
had been left behind. Odets
wrote plays in which the actors interacted with the audience. His
play Waiting for Lefty
created a connection between the audience and the actors. Indeed,
Odets called this communion ‘the very large flower of a social
contract.’ The play invites the audience to participate in the
play; it specifically invites them to shout ‘strike’ and take the
side of the workers. Of course, in the 1930s capitalism was
questioned, as there was mass unemployment, poor housing and
economic stagnation. Despite
this, the USA did not have a robust ‘left’ and the communist
party was not large in the country, which means that the play’s
success is somewhat surprising. Waiting for Lefty
was an attempt at ‘community theatre,’ as it involved the
audience in radical politics and actively tried to radicalise them.
Inevitably, anti-communist organisations tried to clamp down on it
(Voelker 2010).
Whenever we see the Barton
Fink typing in the film, he usually works and thrives in isolation.
However much he prattles on
about the ‘common man,’ he thrives in solitude. He is constantly
interrupted whilst he writes, however the main interruption is his
neighbour, who is ostensibly a ‘common man.’ There is a
contradiction here, as Fink clearly cannot stand this individual,
does not listen to him speak and relentlessly pontificates as to how
the goal of literature is to depict the plight of the common man,
whose dreams
are
‘as noble as those of any king.’ Fink
struggles to write as soon as he moves into his new room. This scene
is very sparse, but we continuously notice objects that distract him.
Clearly, the Underwood
Typewriter is the object that should occupy his attention, as the
Coen Brothers depict it via a close-up. However, his attention is
constantly diverted by other objects, such as papers, a painting of a
woman sunbathing in the beach and a Gideon bible, which are all
depicted via a mid-shot. A spacious mid-shot reveals the entire room,
revealing mise-en-scene which is comprised of 1940s décor that is
sooty and fusty. This makes the surroundings appear decadent, which
is perhaps indicative of what Fink’s/Odet’s career will soon
become. It is a very silent environment; the only sounds we hear
includes the creaking chair, footsteps, Fink’s occasional sighs and
the faint sound of traffic outside. Fink soon diverts his attention
to the painting, which is an object that continuously diverts his
attention. The camera dollies
into a close-up of the painting. This is accompanied by grand
orchestral music in a major key. The editing alternates between the
angle that dollies into the painting and a close-up shot of Fink’s
face. Swooshing sounds of waves also accompany these shots, which
emphasises Fink’s immersion into the painting and his detachment
from the literary process.
This
is when Fink is interrupted by Charlie Meadows, who embodies the
‘common man.’ He clearly distresses Fink. Although his
writing is centred on social realism and radical politics, Fink is
clearly distressed and uninterested when he has to listen to Charlie
speak. He would rather be left alone
to introspect, rather than mingle with the ‘common man’ whom he
writes about. In this particular case, Fink, like Burroughs in
Cronenberg’s film, is confronted with one of the themes that he
writes about. However, in Cronenberg’s film, the themes are surreal
and hallucinatory whereas here it is a real person. Fink sermons
Charlie about the ethos of his writing, but he does not listen to
Charlie when he speaks. Although he writes working class people and
their experiences, he is not interested about Charlie’s
experiences. ‘Stories? I can tell you stories!’ Charlie shouts.
Fink retorts: ‘And that is the point!’ Fink also assumes that
Charlie is intellectually inferior due to his class origins: ‘I
don’t assume that this makes much sense to you.’ Fink has
stereotyped this individual as part of a class, when in fact he is a
complex individual. Although Fink tries to pigeon-hole him as a
member of a class, he does not in fact turn out to be at all
‘common.’ Eventually, Meadows turns out to be a serial killer who
is psychologically tormented. Fink’s class politics are revealed to
be too reductionist and simplistic. The
Coen Brothers depict this via 90 degree mid-shots of Barton Fink and
75 degree mid-shots of Charlie Meadows. The editing is very classical
and alternates between the characters when each of them speaks.
Hence, the editing and the camera work is quite similar to the
wrestling films that Meadows claims to like, however the themes are
much darker and subversive.
Finally,
this essay will analyse a scene where Fink writes his screenplay in
one night. Throughout the entire film, Fink struggles to write
anything. He eventually writes his screenplay in a flurry of
inspiration. This essay will analyse this scene and will try to gauge
how the film recreates the literary process The camera angles focus
on the typewriter throughout via close-ups and dollie-ins, which
emphasise how central the typewriter is to the literary process. For
instance, we never see him taking notes and he solely writes on the
typewriter. We hear grand orchestral music in a major key,
accompanied by a grand mid-shot with a lot of depth of field. The
camera is placed behind Barton, who is typing. This makes the process
appear grand and dramatic, otherwise the situation might appear quite
mundane, as it is merely depicting a man typing in a room. However,
the music and the panoramic mid-shot capture the mental exhilaration
that Fink is experiencing. He has experienced writer’s block for
months and he had a deadline due to the following day. In a bout of
inspiration, he writes the entire screenplay in a night. He
eventually describes this screenplay as the apotheosis of his
literary endeavours: ‘I think that this is really big.’ He is
usually very negative and self-deprecating about this writing, so
this scene captures his excitement. It
eventually transpires that no-one likes the screenplay and it is
eventually rejected, as it does not conform to the wrestling film
formula. However, the scene captures the subjective excitement that
Fink experiences whilst writing the script.
During
this scene, the panoramic mid-shot tilts upwards, which reveals Fink
whilst he writes. We hear the sounds of the clacking typewriter.
There is a mid-shot of the desk, which is strewn with objects that
distract Fink. There is a box that contains the severed head of
Fink’s lover, crumpled papers and a telephone. However, the
typewriter finally gains prominence and it becomes the object that he
devotes all of his energies to. As such, most of the camera angles
focus on the typewriter. There
are extreme close-ups of the levers being pressed against the pages
and close-ups of Fink hitting the keys with his fingers. There are
also close-ups of Fink himself, who utters lines from the script,
which emphasises how immersed he is. The editing alternates between
shots of Fink and him typing on his typewriter. There is a mid-shot
that pans across the entire room and Fink typing. Half
of the shots in this scene are comprised either of the typewriter or
of Fink, which once more highlights how important the typewriter is.
The orchestral music builds up – to begin with it is quite
restrained as Fink starts to write, but it eventually builds up as he
is completely immersed in the process. It is in an andante tempo –
that is, moderately slow – but as it builds up, the strings and
horns reach higher registers, which adds dramatic tension to the
scene. The typewriter
continues to clack in the sound design,
which continues to highlight
the centrality of Fink’s literary process. This is Fink’s moment
of self-realisation and it happens with a typewriter. It is not
pre-meditated, as he does not plan the script over any length of time
nor has he taken notes. Fink channels all of his energies onto the
typewriter. Coincidentally, Odets also wrote his plays very quickly –
for instance Waiting for Lefty
was written over three days (New
Yorker).
Both
films recreate the literary process and use the typewriter as a
central motif. In Naked Lunch,
Cronenberg uses make-up and special effects that transform the
typewriters into insects. These insects mirror several of
Cronenberg’s themes: drug use, libertarianism, cosmopolitanism and
paranoia. The use of drugs activate all of these hallucinations and
it is clear that Burroughs takes drugs whilst he writes. Indeed,
Burroughs later claimed that he did not remember writing Naked
Lunch due to his use of heroin.
Drug taking in Burroughs’ work had sexual connotations, but they
were mainly homosexual. In Cronenberg’s film, they are
heterosexual. Burroughs was a libertarian who frequently escaped
government. In a scene, he is shown persecuted by the police due to
his use of drugs. He even cannot escape authority figures in his
hallucinatory fantasies, as they
harbour
imaginary bureaucracies and shadowy authority figures like ‘Benway.’
Indeed, his libertarian politics are an outgrowth of his paranoia,
which was in keeping with the post-war spirit of
the time. His
insect-cum-typewriter often voices paranoid themes, as it speaks
about ‘government agents’ and about Burroughs being a CIA agent.
Essentially, Burroughs wants to be as free and reckless as possible,
but this excessive openness means that he is highly paranoid. The
insect-cum-typewriter attacks another such typewriter because it
claims that it is a spy, which Cronenberg symbolically recreates.
Cosmopolitanism is a theme
that recurs in Burroughs’ writing, as he went to Tangiers to escape
persecution. Tangiers was a very cosmopolitan place that welcomed
bohemians and ‘beatniks’ who resembled Burroughs and who often
escaped high taxes and persecution from drugs and homosexuality. In a
very symbolic scene, Cronenberg recreates a scene where several
Moroccans and Americans write at the same time. Once more, he uses
the typewriter to recreate this process. Burroughs was initially
sceptical about oriental cultures, but he later embraced it. As such,
this scene recreates a mental synergy between opposing occidental and
oriental cultures. They do
this by writing literary fiction, which is usually a very private
enterprise. Barton Fink
thrives on isolation to write. Despite this, he is constantly
distracted by objects surrounding him, which the Coen Brothers
recreate. It is clear that the typewriter is crucial in his literary
process and the Coen Brothers frequently recreate it via close-ups.
Also, he works directly on
the typewriter and never takes notes. Like
Burroughs in Naked Lunch,
Fink is confronted with the themes that he writes about. In this
case, he is visited by someone who is ostensibly a ‘common
man.’
However, Fink clearly does not enjoy his company, as he wants to be
left alone to write and he is highly disparaging about him. Also, he
is not interested in what he is like as an individual and reduces him
as being a stereotypical member of a class. He later turns out to be
a complex individual who is a serial killer. When the film finally
depicts writing – as opposed to dealing with writer’s block –
he writes the screenplay in a single night. The film depicts this as
a flurry of creative inspiration, but it depicts Fink’s subjective
excitement. This is very appropriate, as Hollywood rejects
the script and no-one likes it. The Coen Brothers recreate this
excitement through panoramic mid-shots, close-ups of the typewriter,
close-ups of an excited Fink and exalted orchestral music. These are
the ways in which Naked Lunch
and Barton Fink
recreate the literary process in a cinematic way.
Works
Cited
Beker,
Jeanne. (1992) David Cronenberg: Naked Lunch Interview. [Online
video] MT. Available
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqhe1v6nb68
Birmingham,
Jed. (2009) William Burroughs and the History of Heroin. [Online]
Reality Studio.
Available from:
http://realitystudio.org/bibliographic-bunker/william-burroughs-and-the-history-of-heroin/
Braeustrup, Peter. (1964) The Talk
of Tangier. [Online] The New York Times.
Available from:
https://www.nytimes.com/1964/06/20/the-talk-of-tangier.html
Cement
and Niogret. Ed. Rodney Allen, William. (2006) The Coen
Brothers: Interviews.
Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi.
Suver, Stacey Andrew. (2017)
‘Interzone’s a Riot: William S. Burroughs and Writing the
Moroccan Revolution.’ In Journal of Transnational
American Studies. 8:1.
Unknown Author. (2016) The
International Zone: Expat Writers in Tangier. [Online] Culture
Trip. Available from:
https://theculturetrip.com/africa/morocco/articles/the-international-zone-expat-writers-in-tangier/
Unknown author. (2006) Stage Left:
The Trial of Clifford Odets. [Online] The New Yorker.
Available from:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2006/04/17/stage-left
Walonen, Michael K. (2016) Writing
Tangier in the Postcolonial Transition: Space and Power in North
African Literature. London:
Routledge.
Willis, David S. (2016) The
Complicated Politics of the Beat Triumvirate. [Online] Beatdom
Available from:
http://www.beatdom.com/complicated-politics-beat-triumvirate/
Voelker, Selena. (2010) The Power
of Art and the Fear of Labor: Seattle’s Production of Waiting
for Lefty. [Online] The
Great Depression in Washington State.
Available from: http://depts.washington.edu
Filmography
Coen
Brothers. Barton
Fink
(1991) 20th
Century Fox.
Cronenberg,
David. Naked
Lunch.
(1991) 20th
Century Fox.
