Fargo (1996) – DVD|[Special Edition] – DVD|Blu-ray Disc

***½/****
DVD – Image B Sound A-
SE DVD – Image A- Sound A- Extras B
BD – Image B+ Sound A Extras B-
starring Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell
screenplay by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
directed by Joel Coen

by Vincent Suarez The critics' knock against the Coen brothers has always admonished the filmmakers for seemingly valuing style over substance–their flamboyant camerawork frequently seemed the raison d'être for rather loosely-plotted films like Raising Arizona. It's fitting, then, that Fargo, their most celebrated work (but not their best–that distinction belongs to the severely underrated Miller's Crossing), champions the virtues of simplicity at nearly every level. Not only is Fargo the Coens' most straightforwardly-told film, lacking their typical stylistic flourishes, but its cautionary tale highlights the dangers of permitting life to become more complicated than necessary. Indeed, had the title not already been assigned to their debut film, Fargo would have been more aptly christened Blood Simple.

The film opens as Minnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) travels to Fargo, North Dakota to meet with lowlifes Carl (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear (Peter Stormare). Jerry is so deep in debt (for reasons which thankfully remain unexplained) that he's hiring the pair to kidnap his wife in exchange for a new tan Sierra (stolen from his lot) and a portion of the ransom money they will extort from her wealthy father, Wade (Harve Presnell). Thus is initiated a series of events that exhibit the intricacies the Coens usually reserve for tricky camera setups, and that leaves almost everyone involved (plus a few innocents) either dead or arrested.

At nearly every turn, the characters entangled in this deception make decisions which increasingly (and often unnecessarily) complicate matters, propelling both their demise and the progressively gruesome plot. Carl prematurely attempts to bribe a state trooper, unleashing the murderous impulses of his partner. Jerry is constantly scheming, whether at work (fudging loan papers, fixing records to conceal his theft of the Sierra, and duping customers), at home (cooking up business deals with his disfavoring father-in-law), or with the kidnappers (he demands a much higher ransom than that which he indicated in Fargo, significantly increasing his take). Even Wade engenders his downfall by insisting he make the ransom drop, rather than simply letting Jerry handle it in the manner prescribed.

In stark contrast to this behaviour is that of the film's heroine, Police Chief Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand). Marge and her husband Norm (John Carroll Lynch) are the film's embodiment of simpler values, simpler processes, and a simpler way of life. The couple shares a peaceful, loving daily existence (she's pregnant with their first child) with indulgences in far less severe excesses (fast food and all-you-can-eat buffets) than Jerry and company. Similarly, Marge approaches her policework with attentiveness to, and pursuit of, the most obvious details; in this manner she successfully tracks the criminals across Minnesota.

One sequence in particular underscores the film's themes, and Marge's relationship to them. While in Minneapolis, Marge meets an old high-school classmate for a drink. Mike (Steve Park) is obviously still smitten with Marge, who resists his advances while remaining sympathetic to the story of his wife's illness and eventual death. A short while later, Marge learns that Mike had only stalked the woman whom he claimed to have married (and who is alive and well), and that he in fact still lives with his mother. The initially affable Mike quickly becomes a pathetic character who, in microcosm, has fallen prey to the tendencies towards the complication of one's own life that dominate the kidnapping plot. Marge, meanwhile, is reaffirmed in her elementary (and more effective) approach to life.

That these themes and motifs are outlined in such detailed, layered, and entertaining fashion indicates that the Coens' 1996 Best Original Screenplay Oscar was richly deserved. Even the film's comedic elements, which initially seemed mean-spirited, now seem quite appropriate. Much of the film's humour derives from its characters' use of Minnesotan colloquialisms, delivered in a stereotypical nasal Midwestern drawl. I first saw the film in a theatre full of Wisconsin college students who laughed loudly and derisively at the depiction of their northern neighbours, and the experience was off-putting. However, after learning that the Coens are Minnesota natives themselves, and having seen the film countless times at home, in the absence of such scornful laughter, I find this playfulness more charming and not nearly as offensive to the characters as I at first thought.

Of course, it helps that the script is performed by a perfect cast. Macy and McDormand (Joel Coen's wife, in her Oscar-winning role) have never been better. Their characters share a quiet determination and resolve which, as revealed in their subtly mannered performances, occupy alternate sides of the same coin; it's too bad their scenes together are both brief and infrequent. Buscemi and Stormare are hilarious together (their "pancakes" dialogue is especially memorable), yet both achieve just the right levels of menace and insanity. Finally, few films have been graced with such exceptional supporting performances.

THE DVD
The recent acquisition of Polygram's pre-1997 catalogue by MGM/UA has witnessed the reissue of several titles that formerly were available on the native studio's DVD label. (I'm such a creature of habit that it's especially disconcerting to find the film's opening image preceded by the MGM logo rather than the familiar Polygram "thin red line.") In saying that Fargo is the Coens' least stylistically ambitious film, I am in no way suggesting it is not technically accomplished. Their frequent behind-the-camera collaborators all turn in magnificent efforts, which are, for the most part, well-served by this DVD.

The Polygram release sported an adequate 1.85:1 widescreen transfer that is essentially reproduced here, but the new disc upstages the first by going the 16×9 route. Roger Deakins's superb, crisp cinematography looks especially brilliant during the indoor sequences, and during the less-challenging outdoor ones. However, the images I was most looking forward to seeing in all their anamorphic glory, the snow-swept, white-blanketed highways of the opening credits (and at other key moments in the film), are disappointing. Such images are definitely difficult to translate to video, and here they exhibit the instability typical of a less-than-perfect transfer. To make matters worse, these brightly lit moments reveal many of the limitations of the source print, which is at times littered with distracting specks and scratches. The new-release cliche that "this film has never looked better" applies here, but I am nevertheless somewhat dissatisfied with the image quality.

On the other hand, this disc does offer a satisfying surprise: the Polygram DVD featured a 2.0 Dolby Stereo soundtrack, which is promised by the packaging of this edition when, in fact, the new release contains a sparkling 5.1 Dolby Digital track. While not exceptional in dynamic range or use of surrounds, the track does full justice to Carter Burwell's elegant score, and the surrounds and LFE channel do kick-in (albeit mildly) at just the right moments. All channels are perfectly balanced, and the students with whom I first saw the film will revel in its crisp rendering of the dialogue…drawl and all.

Rounding out the package is a letterboxed (but non-anamorphic), 2.0 trailer that perfectly exemplifies the film's tone, and a "collectible booklet" no one in their right mind would really strive to collect. However, if you're like me, you'll be most thrilled because this new release allows one to replace the cumbersome, potentially disc-damaging split-case packaging of the Polygram release with the much simpler MGM/UA keepcase packaging. Why needlessly complicate things? Originally published: August 21, 2000.

THE DVD – SPECIAL EDITION
by Bill Chambers Its third DVD release since the format's inception, Fargo's Special Edition from MGM contains the best video transfer of the film to date and adequate supplementary material. Offered in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and fullscreen configurations on flipsides of a DVD-14, this version of Fargo appears to have undergone a digital scrubbing, the print flaws of previous incarnations undetectable. The snowdrift scenes ring through with newfound clarity, although minor ghosting–probably an unavoidable NTSC artifact–compromises black-on-white areas of the image. Given cinematographer Roger Deakins's substantial involvement in the special features of this platter (he's recorded a sedate feature-length commentary), it's possible that he also supervised the transfer this go-'round, though neither the liner notes nor the press release provides a definitive answer. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix sounds identical to that of the MGM disc Vincent reviewed above.

On the dual-layer side, find Jeffrey Schwarz's appropriately pleasant 27-minute "Minnesota Nice", a retrospective making-of with only Steve Buscemi's interviews archival in nature. The most gratifying interviewee is Peter Stormare, who reveals something I believe is exclusive to this set–that he was set to play a character called "The Swede" in Miller's Crossing but couldn't get out of his contract for Ingmar Bergman's stage production of "Hamlet"! McDormand makes the obligatory mention of the Tokyo woman who froze to death searching for the money buried by Buscemi's character in the film, while the Coens stay typically guarded, recycling old soundbites (like the chestnut about Minnesota being "Siberia with family restaurants") as if coming up with them on the spot. The Coens–Joel, at least–are actually more forthcoming in their 20-minute "Charlie Rose" segment from 1996, included here for posterity.

Appearing on the show with McDormand, the Brothers endure Rose's windiness with cheeky smiles, their answers surprisingly articulate and introspective, especially when confronted with a quote critical of their working methods that Rose attributes to Nicolas Cage. A hilarious, Coen-esque trivia track (aside from pancake factoids, we learn–while a woman humps his character–that Stormare almost joined the priesthood), Fargo's trailer and core TV spot, a photo gallery littered with snapshots of Joel and Ethan, an AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER article on Fargo/Deakins that's more illuminating than Deakins's yak-track, and a preview for MGM's Blue Velvet SE round out the disc. Packaged in a whited-out slipcover, it might not be worth the cost of an upgrade (the picture improvements are more subtle than dramatic), but it's definitely the one to get if you're buying Fargo for the first time. Originally published: September 17, 2003.

THE BLU-RAY DISC
by Bill Chambers I had hoped that Fargo would look just a little better on Blu-ray than it does. I saw the picture twice theatrically and have owned it on every single format at one time or another, and to my eyes, this 1.85:1, 1080p presentation is a bit too bright and colour-balanced too neutrally, robbing the film of a slight greenish cast that once combined with denser-than-these blacks to heighten the story's noir flavour. I direct the jury's attention to the scene where Shep Proudfoot beats the ever-loving shit out of Carl: it's even more obvious now that the stream of invective accompanying Shep's lashings is dubbed, because you can clearly see his lips aren't moving–at least, not in sync. Also, the image has been to some extent artificially sharpened, as there is a slightly harsh, electronic quality to the otherwise healthily-preserved grain structure. That said, the added depth and brilliance of the snowscapes almost make up for every one of the transfer's perceived shortcomings, while the attendant 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio has a noteworthy clarity. It doesn't sound as though the original Dolby SR mix was significantly rejiggered, since the rear and LFE channels are still rarely pressed into service, but the track does reveal every quirk of instrumentation in Carter Burwell's score and adds or perhaps restores firecracker intensity to the various gunshots. This MGM BD drops the "Charlie Rose" segment but otherwise recycles all the supplementary material of the Special Edition DVD in standard-def–save the film's own trailer, which gets a 1080p upgrade.

• DVD – 98 minutes; R; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced), 1.33:1; English DD 5.1; CC; French, Spanish subtitles; DVD-10; Region One; MGM
• SE DVD – 98 minutes; R; 1.85:1 (16×9-enhanced), 1.33:1; English DD 5.1, French DD 5.1; CC; French, Spanish subtitles; DVD-14; Region One; MGM
• BD – 98 minutes; R; 1.85:1 (1080p/MPEG-4); English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English Dolby Surround, French DTS 5.1, Spanish DTS 5.1, Portuguese DD 5.1, German DTS 5.1; English SDH, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Korean, Mandarin (Traditional), Polish, Thai, Turkish subtitles; BD-50; Region-free; MGM