Joel Coen
Fargo

"Fargo"
Joel Coen
1996 (USA)

The new film by the Coen brothers will soon be released in theaters, and while I wait, last week I felt like rewatching some of their hits from the recent and old past on a couple of warm couch evenings.

"Fargo" is a memorable film from 1996 that manages to completely satisfy me with every viewing. In my humble opinion, it represents the peak of Joel and Ethan Coen, co-authors of the screenplay in question. The plot is simple. A car salesman overwhelmed by debts decides to hire two criminals to kidnap his wife and pocket the ransom (paid by the wife's father, who is also his boss) to improve his financial situation. Three groups: the kidnapped wife’s family, the kidnappers, and the police. The events intertwine in a downward spiral that manages to entertain the audience masterfully. You would agree with me that described like this, the film might seem like the usual Friday night thriller.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In reality, we are in the presence of a memorable black comedy. The directors have great fun, right from the start, pretending to give the product an air of mystery by starting it with the usual phrase: "this story is based on true events." It's a pity that the conclusion shows the phrase "any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental." It is likely that the Coen brothers have adapted (veeeery, but really very freely), actual events. The fact is, people die, that's true, but you laugh heartily because you can’t believe the story or, especially, the characters, masterfully constructed as parodies and caricatures of themselves.

The husband trying to support the whole staged kidnapping is a person totally incapable of asserting himself in every field of his life. Just trying to imagine him keeping two seasoned robbers and a gutsy father-in-law at bay is simply impossible.
The two robbers, a madman and a ruthless one without scruples, seemingly appear to be professionals. It's a pity they leave behind a trail of clumsy, mile-long evidence ready to be picked up by the cop in charge.
This cop is sharp and resourceful. In short, a sort of Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs if it weren’t for the fact that she is pregnant!!! Her seasoned colleague, however, is a complete inept who is even afraid of blood. The husband of the pregnant officer, on the other hand, is an idle man of the first order, not worried at all about his wife working on a murder case during her pregnancy.

The Coen brothers manage to make us laugh heartily despite a series of murders happening and decide to develop an absolutely essential and static direction, giving us many close-ups. The plot is, if it wasn't clear, a red herring. The actors have the heavy task of turning a seemingly noir film into a tragicomic comedy. The performances of the entire cast are absolutely memorable, evidenced not only by the well-deserved Oscar for Frances McDormand, but also the nomination for W.H. Macy, not to mention the outstanding performance of Steve Buscemi, fully absorbed into the psychopathic character he embodies. The obsessive use of colors makes it all even more brazen, simple, and unbelievable. Black and darkness, in general, characterize all the actions of the criminals, while the police investigations unfold in the whiteness of the snow.

Without boring you further, "Fargo" is a truly beautiful work, greatly appreciated by critics and audiences. A work that, for an hour and a half, manages to entertain us with a noir comedy of undisputed level and that rightly propelled the Coen brothers definitively into the filmmaking world's Olympus. In my opinion, a '90s must-see that I recommend everyone to watch at least once.

Enjoy the show.