Joel and Ethan Coen made a name for themselves in the mid-1980s and early 1990s with a series of wonderfully crafted, low-budget, independent films - Blood Simple (1984), Raising Arizona (1987), Miller's Crossing (1990) and Barton Fink (1991).
In 1994, with the backing of Warner Brothers and a considerable budget of $25 million, the brothers wrote and produced The Hudsucker Proxy. The film bombed at the box office and many in the industry speculated that the Coen brothers were at a pivotal point in their career where the next project may make or break them.
Joel and Ethan Coen unveiled Fargo, an unforgettable neo-noir comedy about kidnapping, blackmail and murder. A film about deceit, greed and amorality. A film that definitively demonstrated no one writes criminal stupidity quite like the Coen brothers.
Fargo's script is razor-sharp, even by the standards of a Coen brothers film. Despite the darkness of the subject matter, there's a warmth to the film, predominantly through the charming, hokey dialogue delivered in strong Minnesotan accents by many of the supporting cast and the unforgettable character of Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand). Frances McDormand deservedly received the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Fargo enjoyed critical praise and commercial success. The film introduced mainstream audiences to the work of the Coen brothers. Work that is often charmingly idiosyncratic and often pushes the boundaries of the chosen genre. Fargo cemented the Coen brothers' position in modern American cinema and established Joel and Ethan as a trusted and recognisable voice of Americana.
Alongside Miller's Crossing, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country For Old Men, Fargo has to be one of the best Coen brothers films. A film that is easy to fall in love with and one I continue to enjoy revisiting every once in a while.
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