Fargo

Since the early 1980s the Coen brothers have mined the rich legacy of American film noir with highly stylised and ironic genre experimentations. “Fargo” is a leap forward, a rich tapestry which infuses crime, violence, romance and humour in an electrifying mix. Frances McDormand won a well-deserved Oscar for her role as a small-town Sherrif investigating a kidnapping and murder while nursing an artist husband and dealing with the physical effects of pregnancy. William H. Macy is also outstanding as a small-business man whose sure-fire kidnapping plot goes horribly and violently wrong. The director never falters in maintaining a consistent tension throughout the film, nor in losing sight of the central importance of McDormand in holding the film together. “Fargo” is not only an enjoyable and rivetting thriller but it also suggests that the pursuit of excess and material success is ultimately destructive. “Fargo” points towards a more complex and engaged cinema practice for the Coen brothers.