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41. Fargo (1996)
After all this time, this might still be my favorite Coen Brothers movie. If you've followed the list so far, you can see that I'm a fan of many of their films, but this is the one that introduced me to them and ultimately convinced me to watch all of their work.
Some people say this film has one of the most perfect scripts ever written and I kind of agree. There's humor (which is practically always the fact with the Coens of course), there's an engaging and thrilling story (probably still their best) that also makes some subtle, interesting comments on our society as a whole, the characters are meticulously constructed and especially pregnant policewoman Marge Gunderson still stands as one of the best film characters in modern history.
There's more to this film than just a great script, though. The Coens also put a lot of care in the visual aspect of the film (again as with most of their movies). There's some playful editing here and there and there's of course the fantastic snowy landscape in which this film is set, which adds an unsettling atmosphere to the film, while also giving it a strangely poetic feeling. The Coens cleverly use the environment to their advantage in several important scenes.
In the end, Fargo is simply a wonderful film that pretty much has it all. It cleverly mixes casual life with a very dark story and it's just a movie that I like returning to now and again.
Just look at how interesting the Coen Brothers can make a seemingly simple dialogue scene. Put good writing, great acting and smart editing in one scene and you have solid gold!
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After all this time, this might still be my favorite Coen Brothers movie. If you've followed the list so far, you can see that I'm a fan of many of their films, but this is the one that introduced me to them and ultimately convinced me to watch all of their work.
Some people say this film has one of the most perfect scripts ever written and I kind of agree. There's humor (which is practically always the fact with the Coens of course), there's an engaging and thrilling story (probably still their best) that also makes some subtle, interesting comments on our society as a whole, the characters are meticulously constructed and especially pregnant policewoman Marge Gunderson still stands as one of the best film characters in modern history.
There's more to this film than just a great script, though. The Coens also put a lot of care in the visual aspect of the film (again as with most of their movies). There's some playful editing here and there and there's of course the fantastic snowy landscape in which this film is set, which adds an unsettling atmosphere to the film, while also giving it a strangely poetic feeling. The Coens cleverly use the environment to their advantage in several important scenes.
In the end, Fargo is simply a wonderful film that pretty much has it all. It cleverly mixes casual life with a very dark story and it's just a movie that I like returning to now and again.
Just look at how interesting the Coen Brothers can make a seemingly simple dialogue scene. Put good writing, great acting and smart editing in one scene and you have solid gold!
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