Have the Coen brothers ever made a more satisfying movie than Fargo? This grisly comedy pits one of cinema’s most pure-hearted cops (Frances McDormand’s pregnant cop, Marge Gunderson) against the machinations of weak and mercenary men, led by car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H Macy), who hires two criminals to kidnap his wife on the theory that her wealthy father will pay the ransom. You wouldn’t call this plan “best-laid,” and it goes sideways fast.
The film claims to be based on a true story. That’s a lie. But in other respects this feels like the Coens’ most sincere and heartfelt movie. There’s a fine line between the film’s homespun comedy and the malevolence unleashed by Jerry’s foolish scheme. Like other Coen movies, this one pokes indulgent fun at the complacency of middle America, which seems so unprepared for the chaos and violence that the world has waiting for them. Fargo won Academy Awards for Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay, but Roger Deakins surely deserved the Oscar too for his wintery cinematography. Incidentally most of the action takes place in Brainerd, Minnesota. But “Brainerd” doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?
Content Considerations: Graphic violence, domestic violence
Staff Pick: Eirinn, Gabriel & Sean
One of the best films I’ve ever seen. Films like Fargo are why I love the movies.
Roger Ebert
Media Partner
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell
USA
1996
English
Indigenous & Community Access
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Credits
Producer
Ethan Coen
Screenwriter
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Cinematography
Roger Deakins
Editor
Roderick Jaynes
Original Music
Carter Burwell
Production Design
Rick Heinrichs
90s, Baby!
Ten years. 11 weeks. 90 films from the 1990s. This summer, 90’s Baby! takes a deep dive into a defining decade of cinema.
Unforgiven
Bill Munny (Clint Eastwood) is face down in pig shit when we first see him. He's a bad farmer, but has a natural facility for killing people – a vocation to which he returns in a quest that combines both profit and justice. Or so he chooses to believe.
Malcolm X
In an indelible role, Denzel Washington give us a layered, compassionate, conflicted man who finds the strength in Islam to transcend his demons and confront the inequity and racism in America head-on. Along with Do the Right Thing, this is Spike Lee's greatest film.
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould
A bona fide classic and arguably the greatest Canadian film of the 90s, Girard's dazzling deconstruction of the biopic gives us the mercurial pianist Glenn Gould as Picasso might have rendered him, a cubist portrait combining multimedia vignettes.
Dazed and Confused
The last day of high school in May, 1976: seniors debate party politics while next term's freshmen run the gauntlet of brutal initiation rites, barely comforted by the knowledge that they'll wield the stick one day.
Short Cuts
Altman's adaptation of Raymond Carver short stories, Short Cuts weaves between 8 or 9 overlapping storylines and 22 characters. it's a teeming, caustic and compassionate human comedy; a singularly astringent, often cynical view of America and Americana.
Three Colours: Blue
The first of Kieslowski's acclaimed Three Colours Trilogy, inspired by the French Revolutionary ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity and the French flag, the Tricolour. Blue stars Juliette Binoche as a young woman grieving her husband and child.
Schindler's List
One of the most acclaimed films of the 90s, Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark is the story of a German industrialist whose conscience is stirred to save his Jewish workers from the camps.
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Three Colours: Red
Irène Jacob plays Valentine, a runway model living in Geneva, who crosses paths with a retired judge (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who's a bit of an eavesdropper. Initially repelled, she becomes intrigued by this man, as do we... Kieslowski's sublime adieu.
Four Weddings and a Funeral
Four Weddings begins with an onslaught of fucks. It's the first signal that this rom-com will break from tradition, despite the ritualized structural conceit described in the title. The witty screenplay is by Richard Curtis — it's still his best.
The Lion King
With its beautifully drawn East African setting, its humour, pathos, and engaging characters, as well as its stirring songs, The Lion King stands as the pinnacle of traditional Disney family entertainment.
Image: © Disney, 1994
To Die For
Buck Henry (The Graduate) wrote this acidic black comedy about a ruthless weather girl on the make (Nicole Kidman in her breakout role). A young Joaquin Phoenix is the dim teen she seduces on her way to achieving stardom.