YEAR 1996 RUNNING TIME 1hr 38m MPAA R BBFC 18 BUDGET $7m US BOX OFFICE $24,469,856
SYNOPSIS: Jerry Lundergaard (William H. Macy) arranges for his wife to be kidnapped in the hope that splitting the ransom with the kidnappers (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) will enable him to finance a new business venture. When one of the kidnappers goes off the rails and events career out of control, it falls to Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) Chief of the Brainerd Police Department, to set things right.

NOTES: This film was made cheaply because the Coen brothers felt bad for all the money The Hudsucker Proxy lost. Ironic that Fargo then went on to win awards and make a hefty profit too!

The location filming had to constantly be moved all over North Dakota, Minnesota and Canade due to the snow melting. Apparently it was a record-breaking mild winter.

The movie states at the beginning that it is based on true events. However, it is not. The statement is part a Coen joke and partly, they say, to make the outrageous behaviour of the characters a little easier to believe.

Bruce Campbell has a hard to spot cameo in Fargo. He is one of the terrible soap opera actors on the fuzzy TV the kidnappers are attempting to watch in the log cabin.

Another Coen brothers Kubrick reference pops up in Fargo. Carl (Buscemi) says to the hooker that he's in town for "just a little of the ol' in and out", a line from A Clockwork Orange.

William H Macy virtually begged the Coen brothers for the role of Jerry Lundergaard. He eventually won them around by telling them, "I'm very, very worried that you are going to screw up this movie by giving this role to someone else. It's my role. I'll shoot your dogs if you don't give it to me."

Norm's primary opposition in the duck stamp competition, The Hautmans, are real-life wildlife artists and acquaintances of the Coen brothers.

Norm "Son of a" Gunderson shares his surname with Clarence "Buzz" Gunderson, the lift operator from The Hudsucker Proxy and Bunnie Lebowski's maiden name in an early draft of the script for The Big Lebowski was also Gunderson, as evidenced by DaFino's (Jon Polito's private Dick) line, "The Gundersons. It's a wandering daughter job. Bunny Lebowski, man. Her real name is Fawn Gunderson. Her parents want her back." By the time the movie was shot the name had changed to Knutsen. ! Are there any more?

Peter Stormare is a keen musician and has a band named Blonde From Fargo. Check them out here.

AWARDS: Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Academy Awards, 1996
Best Original Screenplay, Academy Awards, 1996
Best Foreign Film, Australian Film Institute, 1996
Best Director, British Academy Awards, 1996
Best Director, Cannes Film Festival, 1996
Best Actor (William H. Macy), Independent Spirit Awards, 1997
Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Cannes Film Festival, 1996
Best Cinematography, Cannes Film Festival, 1996
Best Director, Cannes Film Festival, 1996
Best Film, Cannes Film Festival, 1996
Best Screenplay, Cannes Film Festival, 1996
Best Actress (Frances McDormand), National Board of Review Awards, 1996
Best Director, National Board of Review Awards, 1996
Best Film, New York Film Critics Awards, 1996
Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Screen Actors Guild Awards, 1996
Best Original Screenplay, Writers Guild of America, 1996
Best Actress (Frances McDormand), Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, 1996
NOMINATIONS: Best Picture, Academy Awards, 1996
Best Director, Academy Awards, 1996
Best Cinematography, Academy Awards, 1996
Best Film Editing, Academy Awards, 1996
Best Supporting Actor (William H. Macy), Academy Awards, 1996
Best Actress (Frances McDormand), British Academy Awards, 1996
Best Film, British Academy Awards, 1996
Best Original Screenplay, British Academy Awards, 1996
Best Foreign Film, Cesar Awards, 1997
Best Director, Directors Guild of America Awards, 1996
Best Actress - Musical/Comedy (Frances McDormand), Golden Globe Awards, 1997
Best Director - Musical/Comedy, Golden Globe Awards, 1997
Best Film - Musical/Comedy, Golden Globe Awards, 1997
Best Screenplay, Golden Globe Awards, 1997
Best On-screen Duo (Steve Buscemi/Peter Stormare), MTV Movie Awards, 1997
Best Supporting Actor (William H. Macy), Screen Actors Guild Awards, 1996

POLYGRAM FILMED ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS IN ASSOCIATION WITH WORKING TITLE FILMS "FARGO"
FRANCES McDORMAN WILLIAM H. MACY STEVE BUSCEMI HARVE PRESNALL PETER STORMARE
MUSIC BY CARTER BURWELL PRODUCTION DESIGNER RICK HENRICHS DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY ROGER DEAKINS A.S.C.
LINE PRODUCER JOHN CAMERON EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS ERIC FELLNER AND TIM BEVAN CO-PRODUCER GRAHAM PLACE WRITTEN BY JOEL COEN AND ETHAN COEN PRODUCED BY ETHAN COEN DIRECTED BY JOEL COEN

"So, I'm tendin' bar there at Ecklund & Swedlin's last Tuesday and this little guy's drinkin' and he says, 'So where can a guy find some action - I'm goin' crazy down there at the lake.' And I says, 'What kinda action?' and he says, 'Woman action, what do I look like,' And I says 'Well, what do I look like, I don't arrange that kinda thing,' and he says, 'I'm goin' crazy out there at the lake' and I says, 'Well, this ain't that kinda place.".- Mr. Mohra