Fargo (film)
"Fargo" is a critically acclaimed film released in 1996, directed by Joel Coen and co-written with his brother Ethan Coen, who also produced the film. The story is set in 1987 and centers around Jerry Lundegaard, a desperate car salesman played by William H. Macy, who concocts a scheme to have his wife kidnapped in order to solve his financial troubles. Frances McDormand stars as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police chief investigating a series of murders related to the kidnapping, earning her an Academy Award for Best Actress. The film masterfully blends elements of dark comedy and crime drama, showcasing the unique regional dialect and culture of Minnesota, which the Coen brothers portray with both humor and affection.
"Fargo" is recognized for its compelling narrative and strong performances, particularly in how it contrasts Gunderson's moral integrity with the violent actions of the criminals. The film received several Academy Award nominations and won two, including Best Original Screenplay for the Coen brothers. Its success led to the creation of a popular television series of the same name, which premiered in 2014 and expanded on themes and characters from the film. The Coen brothers are noted for their distinctive storytelling style, which combines dark themes with biting wit, making "Fargo" a landmark in American cinema.
Subject Terms
Fargo (film)
- Release Date: 1996
- Director(s): Ethan Coen; Joel Coen
- Writer(s): Ethan Coen; Joel Coen
- Principal Actors and Roles: William H. Macy (Jerome 'Jerry' Lundegaard); Frances McDormand (Police Chief Marge Gunderson); Steve Buscemi (Carl Showalter); John Carroll Lynch (Norm Gunderson); Harve Presnell (Wade Gustafson); Steve Reevis (Shep Proudfoot); Peter Stormare (Gaeare Grimsrud)
Fargo is a classic 1996 film that was directed by Joel Coen. Joel had written the screenplay with his brother Ethan, who served as producer. The film stars Frances McDormand in an Oscar-winning performance as Marge Gunderson, a pregnant police officer from Minnesota who investigates a triple homicide. Fargo was among the decade’s most critically successful films and was successful commercially as well. A dark crime drama with humorous and satirical undertones, it inspired a successful television series of the same name on the FX network.
Plot
The story takes place in 1987, when a car salesman, Jerry Lundegaard, played by William H. Macy, hatches a plan to have his wife kidnapped. Not only is Lundegaard deeply in debt, but he is also panicking because he has been perpetrating a scam against the parent company of his dealership that is about to implode. His father-in-law, Wade Gustafson, played by Harve Presnell, has far greater business acumen than Lundegaard, and the young man seems to resent the relatively puny place that he occupies in the older man’s business operation. Gustafson is a fiercely proud man, and Lundegaard assumes that he will pay handsomely for his daughter’s safe return.
In Fargo, Lundegaard hires two career criminals, Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud, played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare, respectively, to carry out the kidnapping. After the abduction, Showalter and Grimsrud are driving with Lundegaard’s wife stashed in the trunk of their car when a state trooper pulls them over. Grimsrud kills the trooper by shooting him in the head, then also murders a couple who happened to drive by the scene of the officer’s murder.
Gunderson is the chief of police in Brainerd, Minnesota, where the murders took place, and the next morning, she picks up the killers’ trail. Meanwhile, Lundegaard tells Gustafson about the kidnapping, but the young man distorts the facts, claiming that the ransom is $1,000,000 as opposed to $80,000, the sum he had agreed to pay the two kidnappers. Lundegaard also tells Gustafson that the kidnappers insist on dealing with him and him only.
Gustafson insists on being the one to procure his daughter’s release. When he drives to a parking garage where the ransom is scheduled to exchange hands, he is carrying a briefcase that contains $1,000,000 with him. Showalter balks at Gustafson’s insistence that Showalter release the man’s daughter before her father turns over the money. The two end up shooting each other; Showalter suffers a severe wound to the face but manages to kill Gustafson. Showalter takes $80,000—the amount that he and Grimsrud were originally supposed to receive—from the briefcase and buries the rest of the money in a snowy field. At a remote country house that the two kidnappers had chosen as their hideout, Showalter learns from his partner that Grimsrud had killed their hostage. The long-simmering tensions between the two criminals boil over, and Grimsrud kills Showalter.
Gunderson questions Lindegaard at his dealership, only to have the man panic and flee the scene. She reports the incident to the state police, then learns from them that someone spotted the car that Showalter and Grimsrud had used in the kidnapping. Arriving at the house where the two men had taken their hostage after kidnapping her, Gunderson finds Grimsrud disposing of Showalter’s body in a grisly fashion; the surviving kidnapper, always the more violent of the two men, is feeding his former partner’s body into a wood chipper.
Gunderson apprehends Grimsrud by shooting him in the leg as he tries to flee across a frozen lake. While driving him away from the scene, she expresses bewilderment and sadness over his greed as well as his shocking disregard for human life.
Lindegaard is easily apprehended at a motel. Gunderson’s husband is a painter, and earlier, he had been excited to learn that the postal service had selected one of his paintings to appear on a stamp. In the film’s final scene, he tells Gunderson that he recently learned the painting will only appear on a three-cent stamp and not on a more expensive one as he had hoped. Gunderson tempers his disappointment, telling him that his accomplishment is still significant. His spirits lifted, the two then express their joy over the impending birth of their child in a mere two months’ time.
Significance
Fargo was the recipient of many awards and nominations. In addition to McDormand’s Academy Award win for Best Actress, the Coen brothers deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The brothers were raised in suburban Minnesota, and they brought a writer’s eye and ear to their depiction of their home state. Viewers of the film often remember the singsong manner in which the characters speak. While the brothers’ rendering of many of the characters feels satirical, the two men ultimately demonstrate great affection for Minnesotans’ friendliness and general values, which are embodied in Gunderson’s speech to Grimsrud after she arrests him. Gunderson’s pregnancy provides an important contrast with the wanton destruction of life that is so much on display in the movie, and clearly, the brothers embrace her principles.
The Coen brothers are among Hollywood’s most remarkable success stories, two fiercely independent filmmakers who have nevertheless enjoyed widespread critical and commercial success. Their films are noted for a dark viewpoint, biting wit, and caustic satire. Of their many films, Fargo most resembles their debut, Blood Simple (1984), another story of murder and its ghastly consequences. Other notable films in their stellar career include the cult favorite The Big Lebowski (1998); No Country for Old Men (2007), which was based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy and won the Academy Award for Best Picture; and True Grit (2010), which was based on the novel by Charles Portis.
The television series Fargo, broadcast on the FX network, premiered in 2014. The Coen brothers served as executive producers on the series, which was inspired by their film. The series achieved widespread popularity, and, like the original, it has been the recipient of many awards and accolades.
Awards and nominations
Won
- Academy Award (1996) Best Actress: Frances McDormand
- Academy Award (1996) Best Screenplay (Original): Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Nominated
- Academy Award (1996) Best Cinematography
- Academy Award (1996) Best Film Editing
- Academy Award (1996) Best Picture
- Academy Award (1996) Best Director: Joel Coen
- Academy Award (1996) Best Supporting Actor: William H. Macy
- Golden Globe (1997) Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy)
Bibliography
Allen, William Rodney. The Coen Brothers: Interviews (Conversations with Filmmakers Series). Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2006.
Conard, Mark T., ed. The Philosophy of the Coen Brothers. Lexington: UP of Kentucky, 2012.
Ebert, Roger. "Fargo." RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital, 8 Mar. 1996. Web. 30 Jan. 2016.
Luhr, William, ed. The Coen Brothers’ Fargo. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004.
Palmer, R. Barton. Joel and Ethan Coen (Contemporary Film Directors). Champaign: U of Illinois P, 2004.
Rowell, Erica. The Brothers Grim: The Films of Ethan and Joel Coen. Lanham: Scarecrow, 2007.