Fargo Review

Director: Joel Coen
Year: 1996
Genre: Thriller/Drama

Setting plays an imortant part of the mise-en-scene in 'Fargo'. For the most part, 'Fargo' is set in a flat, snowy plain. The large empty land portrays a sense of isolation and lonelyness. The white snow reflects the coldness of the kidnappers. The characters are also established through the use of mise-en-scene. Costumes for example tell us alot about the personalitys of the characters, 'Jerry' especially. The character comes across as a dull and bland which is shown in his choice of clothing; brown and beige are generaly dull, boring colours. Alot can be determined about 'Jerry' also by looking at his office. His workspace is very empty and organised. In one corner of the room there is a collection of golfing trophies. This suggests that he has to have them on show to give an impression that he has achived something when infact the opposite is true. Also, golf is considered as a boring sport wich adds to the persona of blandness. The two kindnappers characters contrast greatly. While the larger 'hired goon' is portrayed as a calm, silent and emotionless, the smaller kidnapper is the exact opposite.

On reflection, i personally did not like 'Fargo'. I felt that the story was boring and the pace was too slow to hold my attension. There were scenes where i found the characters to be humerous but on a whole i feel that the film is not as good as others that i have seen of the same genre. On the other hand, i think 'Fargo' shows good examples of mise-en-scene and from it i have learned a great deal about establishment of characters especially.