The romantic conception of the author dictates that the author should be viewed as a creative genius and the authority behind a text. As such the author is a vital element of the creative film making process, as Altman acknowledges: “somebody has to create the basic blueprint” (Richolson, 1992: 152). ‘Auteurism’ is the concept of a film as the personal expression of the writer or director; as Lapsley explains; “The displaced orthodoxy can be encapsulated by the single word ‘auterism’: the belief that cinema was an art of personal expression, and that its great directors were as much to be esteemed as the authors of their work as any writer, composer or painter.” (Lapsley, 1992: 105) Barton Fink and The Player undoubtedly and categorically question
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We are first introduced to the character of Barton Fink nervously watching on as the play he has written is performed. As the actors take their bow, there are shouts from the audience for the author to come on to stage which Fink does somewhat reluctantly: the audience want to praise the writer of the piece as much as they want to praise the actors who performed it. After the performance Fink joins some acquaintances in a restaurant, one of whom reads the review of the performance in The Herald. While the review of course comments the actors, it does so briefly, instead focusing on the genius of the writer: “The find of the evening was the author of this drama […]. The playwright finds nobility in the most squalid corners and poetry in the most callused speech. A tough new voice in the American theatre has arrived, and the owner of that voice is named... Barton Fink.” (Coen; Coen, 1991: 4.30) The writer is so revered in fact that although only a play within New York; “I’m a playwright. My shows have only played New York” (Coen; Coen, 1991: 25.25), studios in Hollywood are calling his agent to request he come work for them, offering substantial pay: “they’ve offered you $1000 a week, I think I can get them up to as high as $2000” (Coen; Coen, 1991: 6.10). When Fink arrives in Hollywood,
We are first introduced to the character of Barton Fink nervously watching on as the play he has written is performed. As the actors take their bow, there are shouts from the audience for the author to come on to stage which Fink does somewhat reluctantly: the audience want to praise the writer of the piece as much as they want to praise the actors who performed it. After the performance Fink joins some acquaintances in a restaurant, one of whom reads the review of the performance in The Herald. While the review of course comments the actors, it does so briefly, instead focusing on the genius of the writer: “The find of the evening was the author of this drama […]. The playwright finds nobility in the most squalid corners and poetry in the most callused speech. A tough new voice in the American theatre has arrived, and the owner of that voice is named... Barton Fink.” (Coen; Coen, 1991: 4.30) The writer is so revered in fact that although only a play within New York; “I’m a playwright. My shows have only played New York” (Coen; Coen, 1991: 25.25), studios in Hollywood are calling his agent to request he come work for them, offering substantial pay: “they’ve offered you $1000 a week, I think I can get them up to as high as $2000” (Coen; Coen, 1991: 6.10). When Fink arrives in Hollywood,