Fargo

Minneapolis car salesman Jerry Lundegaard is in money trouble and hires a couple of criminals to kidnap his wife, in the hope that his father-in-law Wade will put up the ransom money and he can pocket half of it.  It decends into a frace when the two criminals are stopped by a policeman and they kill him and two other witnesses.
When the local police cheif Marge Gunderson follows the trail of the murders back to the car showroom Jerry's friend, who put him in touch with the two criminals, gets angry and beats up Carl one of the two kidnappers.
Carl then shoots Wade when he turns up with the raqnsom money for his daughter.  But Carl's plan to escape with the bulk of the ransom money backfires and he ends up being fed into a wood chipper by his associate.  The film concludes with Gaear (the other kidnapper) being arrested and Jerry is also arrested while on the run in North Dakota.


The film has obvious visual reference to Psycho with Jean (Jerry's wife) being found in a bathroom and the shower curtain  The popping off the rings echoes the murder of Janet Leigh.  It also references A Clockwork Orange with the dialogue......"Just in town on business.  Just in and out.  Just a little of the old in and out."  The old in and out was a euphemism ofr sex in A Clockwork Orange.


All of Fargo was shot on  location with the exception of the two small bathroom sets, and as the film is supposed to have an aesthetic of a true story it was mostly shoit where the events allegedly took place.


I really enjoyed this film.  I found the narrative both funny and chilling.  The musical score  reflected the action well.  While i felt the snow added the feeling of film noir.  The vioence was justified and added to the story rather than being gratuitous.  The characters were believeable and it was easy to become emotionally entrenched in this movie, with my allegiance changing throughout the film from Jean to Marge to Jerry who despite being the intial protagonist ends up as the victim.