Fargo (1996) Analysis

Fargo (1996): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116282/?ref_=nv_sr_2
Directors:
Joel Coen
Ethan Coen (uncredited)
Writers:
Joel Coen
Ethan Coen
Cast:
William H. Macy
Frances Mcdormand
Steve Buscemi

Fargo is a crime/thriller about a seemingly innocent man Jerry Lundergard who finds himself in financial problems. To solve his problems, Jerry hires two men to kidnap his wife so that his father in law who is very wealthy is forced to pay for her release and then they can equally split the ransom money. However, his plan gets disrupted by three killings happening and the work of a pregnant police chief, Marge Gunderson.
The location that this movie takes place in is revealed by the title of the film "Fargo". Fargo is the largest city in the state of North Dakota in the United States with a population of around 120,000 people.

The movie begins with a paragraph titled "THIS IS A TRUE STORY", this instantly makes the audience feel on edge. The line "Out of respect for the dead" clearly indicates that this story involves many deaths and that the plot will tell a gruesome story. The location that the movie takes place in is once again shown in this paragraph where it states: "The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987". This makes the movie more gripping for people living near the area where it took place because they will be more interested in the events that took place 9 years before the movie was published.The background music gives a calm atmosphere and gives the audience a sense of confusion since the music contrasts from the writing being shown on screen, the music starts as the writing appears which is an indicator that the movie has began

The shot of the writing then fades out into a snowy, isolated area that is all white and has no other features. The opening credits are fully integrated with the opening scene and fade into the shot at 0:46 with a rather small, black font that stands out from the white background and makes it easy to read for the audience.

The opening credits appear in the following order:

Polygram filmed entertainment presents

In association with Working Title films

Frances McDormand

William H. Macy
Steve Buscemi 
Harve Presnell
Peter Stormare
Fargo

For the first 2 minutes of the movie, nothing changes and the same repetitive music continues. This long pause of nothing going on leaves the audience not ready for something to happen and leaves them confused. At 1:50, the sound of drums banging begins as a car is seen driving towards the camera, the the tempo of the drums being hit increases until the car is fully visible. This adds a sort of triumphant atmosphere almost as if to suggest a hero is coming over the hill. This long build up works as a crescendo because there is almost 2 minutes of just an isolated area and all of the sudden, the tempo of the music picks up as the first sign of any character in the movie is shown coming over the hill.

As the car gets close enough to the camera for the audience to get a clear view through the front windshield, the drivers face is not visible. This adds mystery to the storyline and makes the audience wonder who the driver is and how relevant he/she is to the storyline.

After the driver goes past, the scene cuts to a blank, snowy, white background. The title "Fargo" fades in once again in the same black font the stands out from the background. The repetition of this same shot could symbolise a cyclical lifestyle of the main character or maybe it is just to signal the end of the opening sequence and the beginning of the main part of the movie.

Conclusion of Analysis

This opening sequence builds up a confused atmosphere amongst the viewers with its small amount of information given, not a single character is introduced in the opening sequence and there aren't really any clues to what the storyline will be like apart from stating the location of the movie multiple times. The rather bland opening sequence does keep the audience intrigued to the film though because the minimal information given makes the audience even more desperate to find out more about the storyline.