Fargo: Blutiger Schnee

With all the sorry films these days it is good to see a movie as funny, wicked, dramatic, and utterly demented as "Fargo". It's one of those films that you just have to see. William H. Macy gives an Oscar-nominated performance as a car salesman who hires two thugs (one a know-it-all-know-nothing and the other a demented psychopath) to kidnap his wife so that he can keep half the ransom from her well-off father. Needless to say nothing goes right and Brainerd sheriff Frances McDormand (in an Oscar-winning role) comes in to save the day. I won't give anything away because the material is too good to tell those who haven't seen this inventive film. "Fargo" was ranked on the 100 Greatest Films list in 1996 and it was well-deserved. In this age of by-the-numbers film making, this film was a refreshing flashback to the risk-taking style that made the 1970s such a great decade for movies. 5 stars out of 5.

Fargo is a great piece of movie. It has a strong story and a strong cast. It's down to earth and believable.

Jerry Lundegaard is in some trouble. He hires two small time crocks from Fargo to kidnap his wife. The plan is for her father to pay off and for Jerry to take the money. Things don't exactly goes as planned as they kill three people and get a pregnant Chief on their tail.

The Coen brothers have does a terrific job on this movie. It's a well written, original story with an original setting and it doesn't try to be anything it isn't. Just a few characters, a simple plot and small scale. They stay away of clichés and don't even remotely try to mix in anything of that regular Hollywood crap. They manage to capture the mood, the people and the action pretty good. The characters are great, they're reasonable and believable. They manage to keep it serious, but not too serious and put inn a joke here and there.

The actors are great. They way they manage to put on a happy smile and make it seem polite and a little, but not all too false in a great way. William H. Macy is great as Jerry Lundegaard. He gives a little nervous, kind of boy scout performance and it fits perfect. Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare makes two great small time losers. Buscemi is great as a small, funny looking, constant talking bad guy and Stormare fits the big silent, violent, psychopath type really good and they act these characters all the way out. Kristin Rudrüd does a good job as Jean Lundegaard and Harve Presnell as the rich dad is always a winner.

The cinematography is good. All of the shots are good looking and some of them are original, cool and extra good looking. All of the shots are well composed, the lightning is good, but not much out of the ordinary. There are a nice play with the colors in some shots involving the snow.

The score is really nice. The theme is a little sad and so is the movie. It's moody and supports the action and fits the settings very well. It's used in a classical way between the action and that works very well, it makes the action seem more real and more close.

Fargo is a original movie out of the ordinary. The story is good, well written and it's well brought to life and captured. The Coen brothers has made a timeless and very enjoyable movie. See it!

I've always thought Fargo would make a great Shakesperean play; you could alter the modern elements and still have created a buzz 400 years ago in suburban England. Indeed, the plot is similar to Hamlet's, in that they both have characters we root for who create zany plans than end up spinning wildly out of control into bloodshed. Many people seem to like Fargo for its humorous qualities, its characterization of the Minnesotan culture and Frances McDormand- not me. I love Fargo for its brilliant writing, its tragic musical score, its tragic plot, William H Macy, Harve Presnell and Steve Buscemi, its ignorance of political correctness (how many movies can you remember when the only two minority characters were both revealed to be creeps).I want to draw attention to an overlooked reason why the film works so well - how well the music suits the visuals in this movie. Each murder scene is scored superbly, and other audio clues really add to the effect (for instance, notice how when the police officer asks Carl Showalter "What's this?" in reference to the abductee, a disquieting guitar sound is immediately played that has an instantaneous psychological effect on how you interpret the scene). I have seen this film over, well, an embarrassing number of times and have committed its screenplay, from start to finish, by memory. Fargo is the ultimate Coen Brothers movie, a brilliant tragedy, and restores my faith in Roger Ebert as he places this movie in as his fourth favorite movie of the '90s.

With no major stars or well-known names, the actors outshine many more familiar personages. The story is well thought out. The criminals don't try to ingratiate themselves with the audience which adds to its reality. The acting is most convincing and the writing is excellent. Even the cold of a North Dakota winter comes across. Every film course should make use of this movie to demonstrate how to make a very good film without relying on a bottomless budget.

I didn't see this in the theater but saw it the first week it was out for rental, and have enjoyed it ever since. In fact, I probably enjoy this more each time I view it. It's a sick movie, though, make no mistake about that. However, it holds a strange fascination, probably because of the odd characters.

About the story: first, it is NOT a true story as indicated in the movie. That's a lie. It's a fictional kidnapping-turned into murder story with a few bloody scenes, lots of profanity (most of it by Steve Buscemi) and a comedy. Yup, this is pure "black comedy." It's dark humor mixed in with a parody about the way the Scandanavian people in the upper Midwest supposedly speak.

Both William H. Macy and Frances McDormand have some wonderful facial expressions along with their accents. Those two and Buscemi are the lead characters and all three "are a trip." Macy is hilarious; the best character in here, in my opinion. The more I watch this film, the funnier he gets. It's also the best role, I assume, ever for McDormand who was never a star before - or since - this movie. Her character in here, "Marge Gunderson," elevates this movie from just another modern-day sick crime movie, to an original. It's nice to see a wonderful husband-wife relationship, too, as is shown here with her and husband "Norm" (John Lynch).

You have this clean, old-fashioned lady cop (McDormand), a middle-of-the-road bungling car salesman (Macy) and two extreme low-life killers in "Carl Showalter" (Buscemi) and "Gaear Grimsrud" (Peter Stormare) all combining to make this story a mixture not only of people but genres. Other minor characters are strange, too, led by one of Marge's old high school acquaintances "Mike Yanagita" (Steve Park). Add to that some equally-bizarre music (slow violins) and you have this unusual story that brings out the morbid fascination in us viewers.

So, I guess what I am saying is this movie truly is an original, the best film the Coen Brothers have ever made and maybe the rest roles ever for the three main actors, McDormand, Macy and Buscemi.