Barton Fink, 1991

Last night I watched Barton Fink directed by the Coen Brothers. The story takes place in 1941. Barton Fink moves to Hollywood to become a hotshot playwright. He did not want to be in a classy hotel or suite and opted for Hotel Earle. The hotel clerk asks Fink upon checking in "are you a residence or a transient?". The hotel stationary states "Hotel Earle A day or A Lifetime". Fink remains in the hotel for the whole film, makes a friend with his neighbour, and becomes accustomed to the ways of living there.





There were many shots of the long, never-ending corridor. Some were eerie and some were mesmerizing.

On the idea that hotel and home are inter-changeable, I have found a quote from a book dated 1941. At Your Service: The Way of Life in a Hotel by Ludwig Bemelmans.

At its best a hotel is just that - "a temporary home". To say that he "feels at home there" is the highest compliment a guest can pay a hotel. The furnishing of shelter, rest, and good food is still the basic service rendered by the hotel since its earliest form.