Charlie Meadows: Look upon me! I'll show you the life of the mind!
Barton Fink: I gotta tell you, the life of the mind... There's no roadmap for that territory... And exploring it can be painful.
Detective Deutsch: All right, forget the heads. Where's Mundt, Fink?
Detective Mastrionotti: He teach you how to do it?
Detective Deutsch: You two have some sick sex thing?
Barton Fink: Sex? He's a man! We wrestled!
Detective Mastrionotti: You're a sick fuck, Fink.
[last lines]
Beauty: It's a beautiful day.
Barton Fink: Huh?
Beauty: I said it's a beautiful day.
Barton Fink: Yes. It is.
Beauty: What's in the box?
Barton Fink: I don't know.
Beauty: Isn't it yours?
Barton
Fink: I don't know. You're very beautiful. Are you in pictures?
Beauty: Don't be silly.
Barton Fink: Who cares about the fifth Earl of Bathsdrop and Lady Higgenbottom and... and... who killed Nigel Grinchgibbons?
Charlie Meadows: I can feel my butt gettin' sore already!
Charlie Meadows: And I could tell you some stories...
Barton Fink: Sure you could and yet many writers do everything in their power to insulate themselves from the common man, from where they live, from where they trade, from where they fight and love and converse and... and... So naturally their work suffers and regresses into empty formalism and... well,
I'm spouting off again, but to put it in your language, the theatre becomes as phony as a three-dollar bill.
Charlie Meadows: Well, I guess that's a tragedy right there.
Jack Lipnick: Look Bart, barring a preference we're going to put you on a wrestling picture, Wallace Beery. I say this because they tell me you know the poetry of the streets, so that would rule out westerns, pirate pictures, screwball, Bible, Roman... look, I'm not one of those guys who thinks poetic has got to be fruity. We're together on that aren't we? I mean I'm from New York
myself, well, Minsk if you want to go all the way back. Which we won't, if you don't mind and I ain't asking. Now people are going to say to you, Wallace Beery, wrestling, it's a B picture. You tell them: BULLSHIT! We do NOT make B pictures here at Capitol. Let's put a stop to that rumor RIGHT now!
Detective Mastrionotti: Started in Kansas City. Couple of housewives.
Detective Deutsch: Couple days ago we see the same M.O. out in Los Feliz.
Detective Mastrionotti: Doctor. Ear, nose and throat man.
Detective Deutsch: All of which he's now missin'.
Detective Mastrionotti: Well, some
of his throat was there.
Detective Deutsch: Physician, heal thyself.
Detective Mastrionotti: Good luck with no fuckin' head.
Detective Deutsch: Anyway.
Detective Deutsch: [questioning Fink about Mundt] What else?
Barton Fink: Trying to think. Nothing, really. He... he said he liked Jack Oakie pictures.
Detective Mastrionotti: You know, ordinarily we say anything you might remember could be helpful. But I'll be frank with you, Fink. That is not helpful.
Detective
Deutsch: Notice how he's not writing it down?
Audrey Taylor: Barton, empathy requires understanding.
Barton Fink: What? What don't I understand?
Detective Mastrionotti: What do you do, Fink?
Barton Fink: I write.
Detective Deutsch: Oh, yeah? What kind of write?
Barton Fink: Well, as a matter of fact I write for the pictures.
Detective Mastrionotti: Big fuckin' deal.
Detective Deutsch: You want my partner
to kiss your ass?
Detective Mastrionotti: Would that be good enough for you?
Barton Fink: No, I-I didn't mean to sound...
Detective Deutsch: What did you mean?
Barton Fink: I-I've got respect for-for working guys, like you...
Detective Mastrionotti: Jesus, ain't that a load off!