Masterful Mise-en-Scene

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2013)

No matter where you start to explain Fargo, it's hard to begin anywhere without "original" being present in the definition. The Coen Brothers constructed interesting films before Fargo, but this is what really pushed them to the top of the movie world "food chain" per se and established them as landmark filmmakers. The editing, directing, and writing is molded with a specific vision that is fulfilled on screen.
The funny one-liners, repetition amongst characters, and the squeaking accents do draw laughs, but they hardly do justice for the film's originality and brilliance. It's a relatively ordinary setting and characters that are stretched out into a plot that would goes under the microscope and explored in the story in more detail than most films would for this simple set up. Then, once the Coens supply a huge shell to fill with a story, they form a bizarre, satisfying storyline that grows its own mind after taking off in Act 1.
A misconception that viewers have about the cinematography of movies is the mise-en-scene has to be visually beautiful, assumed to be found in fantasy films and period pieces. Fargo covers territory of regular landscapes and they are beautiful in themselves, but each shot is thought up and executed to carefully capture something specific. When the cinematography is matched with the near-perfect editing, masterful mise-en-scene results.
The supporting characters in Fargo think they have the simple situations they create under control, but the only character who really has a clue is the protagonist (introduced in an unconventional manner), splendidly created by Frances McDormand. In every performance by an actor in film, though all creatively their own, traces from past films often inspire the actors to make certain choices. In the skin of Marge, McDormand doesn't rely on inspiration, she relies on her own creativity.
Every character is appropriately acted and drawn out to their full potential, I'm satisfied with everyone's development. William H. Macy humanizes his questionable character with quality to note. I've seen Fargo a good number of times, I've always been aware that it's a great, original film, but I never lived it as I did this past viewing. What other film could you sit through a storyline rooted in stupidity besides Fargo?
Rating: 10
Grade: A+