Fargo is a 1996 film from the Coen Brothers which is universally regarded as one of their best and considered their peak cinematic achievement thus far by a substantial number of fans and critics. Frances McDormand received her first Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as a pregnant police officer investigating a multiple murder and the kidnapping of the wife of a local car salesman played by Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor, William H. Macy. Eventually, she discovers that both crimes are connected through the nexus of the car salesman who has not exactly been completely honest with the police.
In addition to the Oscar nomination for McDormand and Macy, Fargo was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. In addition to a nomination for Best Director, McDormand’s husband Joel Coen shared an Oscar win for Best Original Screenplay with his brother, Ethan. Of particular note is that the award for Original screenplay rather than Adapted Screenplay seems to confirm that the titles at beginning of the film reading
“This is a true story. 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”
are, in fact, false. Further confirmation of the suspected veracity of the film being based on actual events are the conflicting stories of what the “true story” actually entailed which the Coens have alluded to over the years. And, then, finally there is Joel Coen obscure assertion that the movie is based on a true story in the sense what’s true about it is that it is, indeed, a story.
What kind of a story Fargo actually has also been a subject of debate. Fargo lost the Best Picture award at the Oscars to the irrefutably dramatic British film The English Patient, yet was not even nominated in the same category as that film by the Golden Globe. Instead, it went head to head with The Birdcage as both eventually lost out to Evita for Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical. The justification for Fargo finding its way into comedic categorization is that is an example of “black comedy” primarily on the basis of scenes (mostly involving actors Steve Buscemi and Macy) which infuse violence and dark motivation with comical performances. This has set the stage for determining whether Fargo is actually a drama with some funny scenes or a comedy with a dramatic plot. Regardless of which side of this argument one takes, one truth about the film is inescapable: some truly horrendous things happen to certain characters that would most definitely not be out of place in an unambiguously dramatic thriller.
The film has since spawned a television series on the FX Network in which each season has taken place during a different time period and features none of the characters from the film. Instead, the characters in the TV show are said to exist within the same timeline as the events fo the movie and references are made to characters, places and plot points indirectly as a means of unifying this timeline.
