The characters in Fargo are unchanged by crisis and confrontation
Posted in General on 20. Jul, 2010
The characters in Fargo are unchanged by crisis and confrontation. This may be a daring authorial double bluff, or just a sign of the brothers’ tendency towards self-congratulation of a bleak sort. Their assessments of their characters are not tested but merely confirmed by the workings of plot.The rules of storytelling demand that Jerry be changed by the realisation that he may have deprived Scotty of a mother by his scheming. The actor lends the character his doggy eyes and pale red hair: the director decks him out in overshoes and parkas so that he always looks swaddled and ridiculous.The Coens have a distinctly ungenerous conception of human nature – the objection being not that they’re misanthropic, but that they’re lazy in making their case. We are given, for instance, no precise details of the financial crisis that leads Jerry (William H Macy), a Minneapolis car dealer, to arrange for his wife to be kidnapped, so that his mean old father-in-law will pay up. Loan shark, gambling debt, organised crime, drug habit, blackmail – the Coens give an audience few clues beyond alluding to a scam involving car financing and serial numbers. Except of course that we know we’re in a genre where a criminal scheme is a given.Jerry can’t close a deal without sweating blood for a few bucks, can’t communicate with his son Scotty, either with love or authority, can’t tell the truth but can’t lie with any talent either.
It goes without saying that he can’t organise a criminal conspiracy. pretends to be true” – but even if it isn’t, what we have here is hardly documentary. He could be a bogey-man as easily as an inspirational figure.
In an opening title, the brothers claim to be telling a true story: “At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.” This may simply be a bluff – introducing the published screenplay, Ethan Coen writes “The story that follows… Occasionally the sun casts long shadows over a parking lot – that’s as close as they get to a lyrical moment. A statue of Paul Bunyan, with checked shirt and upheld axe, stands outside his home town of Brainerd. The Coen brothers are very knowing, but what is it that they know?
Fargo is less drenched in movie references than some previous Coen films, and the bleak landscape of North Dakota and Minnesota does get a look in The Coens make a feature of the featurelessness of winter Snow blurs the horizon.
The thing is, though, that there’s a difference between being sophisticated and being advanced. If you have any dilemmas of your own you would like to share, let me know.. Fargo is the new film from the indefatigable Ethan and Joel Coen, and a typically sophisticated piece of work. Now Paul’s 13 and needs to go on a school trip costing pounds 100. I’ve offered to pay half, but my wife says she can’t afford the balance and has asked the school’s charitable fund for the difference If neither I nor the fund pays, Paul can’t make the trip I want him to go, and I could just about find the money.
But why should I? If Paul doesn’t go he’ll blame me; if I pay it’ll open the way for more arm-twisting. Should I draw the line here? If not, where?Yours sincerely, DavidAll comments are welcome. Everyone who has a suggestion quoted will be sent a Dynagrip 50 ballpen from Paper:Mate. Please send relevant personal experiences or comments to me at the Features department, the ‘Independent’, 1 Canada Square, London, E14 5DL (fax 0171-293 2182) by Tuesday morning. One of the areas of conflict was that she said I was too mean and I thought she was too extravagant. I pay towards our son Paul’s maintenance – slightly more than the CSA’s estimation. Remember the search can be fun if she has a female friend in the same situation.Derek, Kent.NEXT WEEK’S PROBLEM: SHOULD I BALE OUT MY EX-WIFE FOR THE SAKE OF MY SON?Dear Virginia,My ex-wife divorced me three years ago.
However, those troublesome sexual longings cannot be rationalised and are a powerfully instinctive reminder of the extent of her loss. When Angie, with her undoubted courage, can face the sheer bloody awfulness of the fact of widowhood she can then start to live her life on a more realistic basis. There is still time for her to be truly happy but perhaps not just yet.With my very best wishes to her.Poppy, Canterbury.Turn the longing into a giftThe grace you express by counting your blessings is endearing to say the least. We are all so differently endowed by warmth and sexuality that I believe in your perceived physical needs at a time when all other needs are satisfied. Somehow, you have to turn these inward needs into outward gifts. Do not be dismayed or haunted by your longings, which are perfectly normal. Embrace them as a part of your own good self, while realising that no one can have everything, however much desired.Stewart Fleming, Glasgow.Searching can be funThere are many opportunites to meet men if Angie will set out to do it.