Fargo (Coen Brothers, 1996) is a film I’ve heard about quite often. I was unaware of the plot until reading the description and was surprised to find out that it was actually listed as a comedy. For such a dark story line to be considered funny was unexpected, especially being based on true events. Even at the close of the film, I was still was surprised by it being grouped with comedies. It had funny and quirky moments, but these were overshadowed by the multiple senseless deaths. However, the editing, static characters, and tone contributed majorly to this film’s individuality.
The characters are imperative to this film not due to their development but lack thereof. They’re static – they are the same people throughout the entire film and nothing that they come across changes that. The main character, Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy), is an idiotic mess. Even after his first scene, in which he reveals that he has hired two men to kidnap his wife so they could split the ransom money, there is a sense of sorrow for him. He’s in over his head, his father-in-law mistreats him, and he can’t seem to find success in anything he does. However, as the film goes on, viewers are shown that he really is just moronic. He hasn’t changed as a person, the audience has just been given more information about him. He is a bad liar and an even worse husband. On the other hand, Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) is quite likeable. Even through her goofy smile and constant appetite, she seems to be the only smart one in the whole film. From the beginning to the end, she latches onto her leads and is quick to figure out what’s going on.
There wasn’t anything too special about the editing in this film other than the fades. The scenes would often silently fade to black, or fade into another scene, creating a sense of closure that wasn’t actually there. Some scenes would only be a few seconds long and then fade away, making it seem like a pointless addition to the storyline. This actually had a pretty interesting effect because it almost made the scenes seem uninspired and dull, as if nothing special really happened, even if it did.
The only element of sound that felt especially important in Fargo was the character’s voices, particularly their accents. The way that they talked added an element of silliness. Often in film or on television, the Minnesota accent can unfortunately be aligned with stupidity. This seems to have been the filmmaker’s aim here. Their language adds to the anti-climactic and downplaying of the drama. After the man on the phone tells Jerry he’ll kill his entire family, he responds with “Okay, real good then,” and hangs up. After Jerry’s father-in-law gets shot in the stomach, he says calmly, “Oh jeez.” The lack of emotion in these scenes is confusing and is probably part of the comedic element that so many find within this movie.
The film’s tone is serious yet there is an underlying feeling of stupidity and indifference. The tone remains this way throughout the entire film. The characters promote this indifferent feeling as there is not a large amount of emotion shown by them. The scenes never feel special, with no real climax ever being revealed. The entire film revolves around the fabricated kidnapping of Larry’s wife only for her to be killed off screen, shown dead for one shot, then never mentioned again. Then, the close of the film focuses on Marge and her husband. He tells her there was an announcement only to reveal that it was about stamps. This whirlwind film comes to a close on this insanely mundane topic, leaving viewers feeling confused and underwhelmed.
Due to the editing, static characters, and tone, the scenes in Fargo just didn’t feel special. Everything seemed to just be a moment in time. The characters don’t undergo any really change and don’t seem to actually care about anything. All in all, I think this film being under the genre of comedy complicated it more for me. It was unusual and original but also lacking in many ways.
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