Grappling : Mental Gymnastics

Favorite scene from "Barton Fink". A Coen brothers film.

THE DEVIL :

Jesus, I did Hurt You. 

I sure do apologise. 

I'm just a big, clumsy lug. 

I sure do apologise. 

You sure you're okay? 

BARTON FINK ;

I'm fine, really. Actually, 

it's been helpful. 

But I guess I should 

get to Work. 

THE DEVIL :

It wasn't fair of me to do that. 

I'm pretty well-endowed physically. 

Don't feel bad, though. 

I wouldn't be much of a match 

for you at mental gymnastics. 

THE DEVIL :

Give me a holler, you 

need anything….

 

W. P. MAYHEW :

If I close my eyes, I can 

almost smell the live oak.

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

That's chicken fat, Bill. 

W. P. MAYHEW :

Well, my olfactory's turning womanish on me... 

lying and deceitful. 

Still, I must say I haven't 

felt peace like this since 

the grand productive days. 

Don't you find it so, Barton? 

Ain't writing peace? 

BARTON FINK ;

Well... actually... no, Bill. 

No. I've always found that 

Writing comes from 

a great inner pain —

Maybe it's a pain that 

comes from a realisation 

that one must Do Something 

for one's fellow Man 

to help somehow ease 

their suffering. 

Maybe it's personal pain. 

At any rate, I don't believe Good Work is possible without it. 

W. P. MAYHEW :

Hmm. Well, me, I just enjoy making things up. 

Yes, sir. Escape. 

It's when I can't write 

and escape myself, 

that I want to 

rip my head off 

and run screaming 

through The Street 

with my balls in a 

fruit picker's pail. 

Hmm. This will sometimes help. 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

That doesn't help anything, Bill. 

BARTON FINK ;

That's True, Bill  -- I've never found that to help My Writing. 

W. P. MAYHEW :

Your Writing? Son, have you ever heard 

The Story of Solomon's Mammy..? 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Barton, you should read this.

 I think it's Bill's finest, or among his finest, anyway. 

W. P. MAYHEW :

So, now I'm supposed to roll over and get my belly scratched? 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Bill. 

BARTON FINK ;

Look, uh... maybe it's 

none of My Business, 

but don't you think a man 

with your talent... 

your first obligation 

is to your gift? 

Shouldn't you be 

doing whatever you have to 

to work again? 

W. P. MAYHEW :

What would that be? 

BARTON FINK ;

I don't know. But with that drink, 

you're cutting yourself off 

from your gift 

and your fellow man 

and everything Your Art 

is about. 

W. P. MAYHEW :

Oh, no, son —

I'm building a levee... 

gulp by gulp, brick by brick... 

Putting up a levee 

to keep that raging river 

of manure from lapping 

at my door. 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Maybe you better, too, Barton, 

before you get buried under 

his manure. 

W. P. MAYHEW :

My Honey pretends 

to be impatient with me, 

but she'll put up with anything. 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Not anything, Bill. 

Don't test me. 

BARTON FINK ;

You're lucky she puts up 

with you as much 

as she does. 

W. P. MAYHEW :

Maybe to a schoolboy's eyes. 

People who know about The Human Heart, though, 

maybe they'd say, "Bill over here, he gives his honey love, 

and she pays him back with pity, the basest coin there is." 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Stop it, Bill. 

Gone are the days 

When my heart was young and gay 

Gone are my friends 

From the cotton fields away 

Gone from the earth 

To a better land I know 

I hear their gentle voices 

Callin' Old Black Joe 

I'm comin' 

I'm comin' 

Oh, my head is bending low 

I hear their gentle... 

W. P. MAYHEW :

The Truth, My Honey, is a tart 

that does not bear scrutiny. 

Breach my levee at your peril! 

Gone are my friends 

From the cotton fields... 

BARTON FINK ;

That son of a bitch! 

.....Don't get me wrong -- 

He's a fine writer. 

Gone from the earth 

BARTON FINK ;

Are you all right? 

To a better life I know 

BARTON FINK ;

Audrey, y-you can't... 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Oh, Barton. 

BARTON FINK ;

You can't put up with that. 

Old Black Joe 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

I feel so sorry for him. 

BARTON FINK ;

What? He's... 

He's a son of a bitch. 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

No. No. He... 

He sometimes just... 

I hear their angel voices... 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Well, he thinks about Estelle. 

His Wife still lives 

in Fayettesville. 

She's... disturbed. 

BARTON FINK ;

Really? 

W. P. MAYHEW :

I'll just walk on 

down to The Pacific, 

and from there 

I'll improvise. 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

He'll wander back when he's sober 

and apologise. He always does. 

BARTON FINK ;

Okay, but that doesn't 

excuse his... 

Silence upon the hill

BARTON FINK ;

... behavior. 

In Darien! 

AUDREY TAYLOR, 

His 'Secretary' :

Empathy requires understanding. 

I'm comin' 

BARTON FINK ;

What? What don't I understand? 

I'm comin' 

Oh, my head is hangin' low 

I hear their gentle voices 

Callin'

Old Black Joe