The Coen Brothers' Fargo

This volume explores Fargo from a variety of methodological perspectives.

William G. Luhr (Edited by)

9780521808859, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 October 2003

180 pages, 29 b/w illus.
23.6 x 15.7 x 1.7 cm, 0.37 kg

"...a useful introduction to the critical discourse penned in the years since the film's premier." Jarrod Waetjen, Gibbs College, American Book Review

Fargo is the most commercially and critically successful film of Ethan and Joel Coen. Immediately recognized as an important work, it was nominated for five Academy Awards and received two, an exceptional achievement for a low budget, independently produced film without major stars. Fargo is also a film that explores middle-American themes and settings from an original and unsettling perspective, challenging traditional genre structures. This volume explores Fargo from a variety of methodological perspectives. Providing a detailed account of the film's production, reception and place within the career of the Coen brothers, it explores issues and themes that are important to current film discourse, including genre, gender and sexuality, race, history, culture and myth.

1. Introduction William Luhr
2. 'A lot can happen in the middle of nowhere': Fargo and the films of Joel and Ethan Coen David Sterritt
3. Motherhood, homicide, and Swedish meatballs: the quiet triumph of the maternal in Fargo Pamela Grace
4. Fargo, or whiteout of the American frontier Christopher Sharrett
5. 'Kinda' funny lookin': Steve Buscemi's disorderly body Mikita Brottman
6. Fargo: 'Far removed from the stereotypes of ...' William Luhr
7. Interview with the Coen brothers Michael Ciment and Hubert Niogret
8. Cold-blooded scheming (on Roger Deakins, Fargo's cinematographer) Chris Probst
9. Cinesonic Interview with Carter Burwell (Fargo's composer)
10. Cineaste review of Fargo Thomas Doherty
11. Prairie home death trap Harvey R. Greenberg
12. Filmography of Joel and Ethan Coen.

Subject Areas: Individual film directors, film-makers [APFB]