Fargo turns 20 today. Its fans are still arguing about this scene

Vox ^ | 3/8/2016 | Todd VanDerWerff

[Borges]

If you talk about Fargo — the Coen brothers' classic Midwestern rural noir/comedy of manners that was first released March 8, 1996 — long enough, you'll inevitably touch on a part of the movie that's destined to provoke arguments: Just what is that Mike Yanagita scene about, anyway?

[HandyDandy]

We’re not a bank, Jerry.

[windcliff]

ping

[notdownwidems]

I agree, I had forgot about True Grit which was far superior to the formulaic original. I saw Blood Simple in the theater when it first came out, say 1984 or so? I need to look at it again; I remember it as being subtle and complex as well.

[jobim]

Fargo isn’t violent at all. The notorious wood chipper scene isn’t remotely explicit. The ‘sex scene’ lasts about 2.7 seconds. That’s now what the film is about at all.

To me, who doesn't watch TV or go to modern movies, with some exceptions, Fargo was
a shock to my system. Your assertion that it isn't violent doesn't convince me even a little.
The doublemint-twins-hookers-on-top scene had running conversations between the two
derelicts, certainly long enough to be gratuitously immoral, lacking even the artistic merit
of Alex's two-on-one romp in fast speed in Clockwork. The film was about making
money, and preyed upon lowest impulses, albeit directed by some talented brothers. The
disgraceful winning of the Oscar put into utter relief the contrast between great films of
yore and prurient, explicit, gutteral films of today.

[Borges]

No ‘Bad Boys’ and ‘Armageddon’ were about making money. Fargo was a small, personal film that no one expected to make a dime. I suspect it isn’t the content but the tone that was off putting to you.

P.S. The film lost the Best Picture Oscar to ‘The English Patient’.

[Last Dakotan]

I grew up in the smack dab middle of Minniesoda..

If you haven't been there in a while, you'd be surprised how Somalian it has gotten there.

[discostu]

You saw a lot of stuff that just plain is not there. It’s a testament to the power of suggestion. There’s less violence in the movie than your average John Wayne movie, now the violence that’s in it is a lot more shocking and unpleasant, but that’s a good thing. I’ve always thought the “clean” violence of pre-60s movies is a lot more prurient because it shows killing as easy, physically and emotionally. All the deaths in Fargo hurt, people, including the killers, are damaged by these acts. And the sex scene is over almost instantly, the conversation is post sex.

Sorry, but what you “saw” in the movie came from you, the movie at most made suggestions, but all the “explicit” and “guttural” aspects came straight from your own head.

[NorthstarMom]

It’s hard to say as I love mysteries. I found it disturbing-my spirit was uneasy. Perhaps it was the dark comedy part-irreverence for life? All I know is that I regretted watching it immediately.

[Boogieman]

“The scene has little to do with the plot, but adds realism in that it was re-created from the actual events in as literal a form as possible.”

Lol, there were no “actual events”. That disclaimer at the beginning of the movie was a put-on. Everything in the film is a complete fiction.

[okkev68]

I have always liked the movie a lot, but my wife and I are both the same way. We laugh and then feel dirty that we enjoyed it. I’ve never understood why that movie always does that to me. No other movie does.

[Borges]

The idea was to contrast the banal, quotidian aspects of ordinary lives with their opposite. Marge and her husband are completely ordinary, decent people caught up in events of, to them, unfathomable evil.

[jobim]

That’s hilarious, Doctor D. My hallucinations. But as with childhood, the boogie man we perceive is so fearsome.

[discostu]

Not hallucinations, projections. It happens. There’s a reason why the scariest horror movies show the least, they make suggestions and let you fill in the rest. One of the great examples of how suggestions make people think the movie showed something it didn’t is Seven, the movie ends with one of the protagonists getting his wife’s head delivered to him in the box, you never see the head in the box, they never even show the top of the box passed the cutting of the first tape. But the director has actually had people hit him and accuse him of being a cruel person for showing that woman’s head in the box. He made the suggestion, and people’s brains project the rest, it’s a heart wrenching scene even if your brain doesn’t make you see the head in the box. Same kind of thing happens in Fargo, much is suggested, little is shown, many people’s minds project to fill in the blanks.

[onedoug]

Great film, interesting back story, and thread.

Thanks for the ping.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Super flick. Loved it the first ten times I watched it. :-)

[HandyDandy]

I think that one very important element of Fargo that is seldom (if ever) touched upon, is the psychological impact of cabin fever. We saw it in The Shining. Obviously, Mr. Grimsrud exhibited early signs as he sat in the cold cabin with his mouth hanging open watching soap operas in his long-johns. That should have been an early indicator to the viewer that things were about to go terribly wrong.

[driftless2]

I’ve been a Wisconsinite all my life, and you are correct. There were some scenes here and there that didn’t quite jibe. Like most of the characters speaking the same way. Nevertheless, it’s one of my favorite movies.

[Vinnie]

Probably no one from Bemidji, ay?
I grew up in the smack dab middle of Minniesoda..

If you like Murder mysteries, read John Sandford novels. All his '..Prey ' series takes place in Minneapolis and surrounding country. Main character is a detective named Lucas.
Good reads

[sharkhawk]

I hated it. Repulsive describes it perfectly. Also, as a life long Minnesotan I couldn’t mimic that accent no matter how hard I tried.

Did you ever spend time up by itasca county or Bejmidi, cause the old timers we met at the fishing camp up there sounded exactly like that, the kids not so much.

[Zman516]

Since we first saw Fargo, (have watched it several times since) Steve Buscemi has always been “the funny-looking guy” to my wife and I.