Fargo

USA 1996
97 minutes
Directed by Joel Coen
Leading players - Francis McDormand, Steve Buscemi & William H Macy

Synopsis

Fargo is a black comedy set against the white landscape of the Midwest winter, Minneapolis 1987. Jerry Lundergaard ( William H. Macy), a car salesman in need of money fast, hatches a plot to have his wife kidnapped then tap his father-in-law for the ransom. This simple plan starts to go wrong the moment he engages two low-life losers, played by Steve Buscemi and Peter Stomare to carry out the kidnapping. The pair are stopped for a minor motoring offence with their victim on the back seat of a car with plates advertising Lundergaard's dealership. The next morning reveals the frozen bodies of a rural traffic cop and two passing motorists and leaves heavily pregnant small town police chief Marge Gunderson (Francis McDormand), with her first murder case. Though at first unaware that the killings have any connection with a Minneapolis kidnapping, Marge's investigations lead her closer and closer to Jerry Lundergaard.

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A heady brew of dark humour and at times strong violence, 'Fargo' is the Coen brothers finest achievement to date. It is unlike much of their previous work in several ways. It is intentionally slowly paced, therefore suited to the films setting and allows events to develop as in real time. It is allegedly based on events which occurred in the Midwest in 1987 and as the Coens grew up in a Minneapolis suburb their observations of local mores are finely reproduced. As producer Ethan Coen remarked, "The landscapes, the characters and the overall Midwestern sensibilities are facets of the film about which we feel we have a unique perspective."