Straightforward but powerful, "Fargo" is classic tragedy

Rating: 9/10 (3 February 2008)

"Fargo" is one of those crime films that doesn't actual attempt to mislead you anywhere. It doesn't need to rely on Hollywood twists and that's the look of a truly great story.
The film follows the consequences of William H. Macy's character Jerry's choice to hire two men to kidnap his wife so he can pay off other debts. The plot is simply how this spins out of control and turns into something tragic.
Balancing out the tragedy is the simply yet wonderful character of Marge, the pregnant policewoman played by Frances McDormand. She has no dramatic dialogue or scenes that demand a great deal, but she plays her character with such charm and simplicity that she is easily the most likable character in the film. Thematically, it seems as if Marge is representative of honor and hope in how she does her duty with the former and symbolically in her pregnancy for the latter.
The Coen brothers create an aura around this film that seems somewhat contradictory but effective. The snow gives it a distinct feel of innocence, but the blood taints it. You feel like with all the violence, your heart should be racing, but the Coen brothers have shot the film in a way that it simply builds interest and/or concern for the characters in the film. The setting is very subtly of great importance.
"Fargo," simply put, is probably one of the greatest tragedies of the modern era, almost Shakespearian in a way in how it probes the mind by showing simple people in a difficult situation.