“One of the best films I’ve ever seen,” raved legendary critic Robert Ebert.
“All copies of this stereotype-reinforcing, overly violent piece of junk should be destroyed,” ranted the unread news periodical The Brainerd Dispatch.
Depending on whether or not you’re speaking with someone from the north-central states (specifically the western and eastern borders of North Dakota and Minnesota, respectively, which is as north and central as you can get), you will more than likely get a positive response when inquiring about the Coen brothers’ sixth feature film, Fargo, which is playing Oct. 18–20 at Portland State’s 5th Avenue Cinema.
But why should anyone give a “hi hello” about Fargo?
“This is a true story,” reads the opening credits of the film. “The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.”
Leading off with the preceding passage, Fargo tells the darkly hilarious intertwining tales of Jerry Lundergaard (William H. Macy) and Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand, in an Oscar-winning performance): two eccentric Midwesterners who serve as vessels on opposing spectrums of the American experience. Lundergaard, a corner-cutting entitled American desperate for the money and power he feels he deserves, resorts to hiring criminals to kidnap his own wife in an attempt to net a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. Gunderson, a hardworking blue-collar American, is the unassuming chief of police in tiny Brainerd, Minn., who follows the trail of chaos that Lundergaard’s hired hands inevitably leave in their wake, despite the fact that she is seven months pregnant.
These two reveal the furthest corners of our ability in facing the challenges presented by our society, our most clandestine ambitions and our more luminous aspirations. Hanging precariously on a wire between bleak introspection and fantastic humor, Fargo leads an all-star cast—including Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare—into a nightmarish caricature of Midwestern America and, arguably, America as a whole.
Just how much of Fargo is factually based? According to the Coen brothers themselves, who also wrote and directed The Big Lebowski and No Country for Old Men, the film is based on a mish-mashed collection of real murders that occurred throughout the U.S. Most notably (and without ruining anything for those who have yet to see it), Fargo draws much inspiration from the murder of Helle Crafts, a case in Connecticut involving a woman who was shoved into a piece of heavy machinery used for the convenient disposal of wood—among other things—by her husband.
“The basic events are the same as in the real case,” said director Joel Coen, “but the characterizations are fully imagined… if an audience believes that something’s based on a real event, it gives you permission to do things they might otherwise not accept.”
So while the “true story” tag may be a bit of a stretch, Fargo retains a realistic approach in its pursuit of a great American story.
Fargo is pure Americana. It is a film about our thirst for control and power over minuscule situations, each other and our own lives. The Coen brothers playfully dissect the brightest and darkest aspects of our humanity and nature, tugging out each fleshy organ to present them bloody-handed in front of our eyes. It is a film of vital importance to our culture and experience. In fact, I would argue that Fargo is one of the most important American films made within the last generation. This may sound hyperbolic, and I don’t fault you for making me out to be biased and maybe a little sentimental. My passions notwithstanding, Fargo was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2006 for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
“I think it’s the Coen brothers’ best film,” said Matt Ellis, cinema coordinator at 5th Ave Cinema. “It’s one of the most important movies about the late 20th century American experience and…it’s just a good movie. [You can] just forget about reading into it; it’s a fun movie to watch.”
Fargo closes with the expectant and hopeful line, “Two more months…” which is, coincidentally, the same amount of time we have to wait until the Coen brothers’ newest film, Inside Llewyn Davis, opens for wide release. In light of this, the ability to catch Fargo over the weekend is a welcome chance to tide ourselves over while waiting for Llewyn Davis’ arrival in December.
5th Avenue Cinema is free for Portland State students, $3 for other students, $4 general admission. Visit 5thavenuecinema.org/upcoming-films for showtimes and a full schedule of other films being screened over fall quarter.
