It seems like its been a really long time since I have written about a movie. Its not that I haven’t seen many lately, but rather, I just haven’t found the time to post anything about any of the movies I’ve seen recently. But I can’t help but write about some of these flix, so I’ll try to get something up for each.
I was predisposed to dislike the movie Fargo, but I was eventually forced to view the film for the sake of convenience. Since moving to Washington D.C., I’ve been asked about Fargo frequently. In fact, when I meet someone new around the District, as soon as they find out I grew up in Fargo, they ask either: “Have you seen the movie?” or: “Did you like the movie?” I of course would answer that I hadn’t seen the movie, but the conversation would continue with the topic being the movie. It was always somewhat awkward when someone asked me if I had seen the movie, because once I had said no, they would give me the “how could you have not seen the movie about your home town” look. I eventually tired of these awkward situations and finally I Netflixed Fargo.
I’m glad I took the time and have now seen Fargo. The movie was really well done, and being from the area portrayed, I thought the accents were terrific. What I thought made this movie special, and why I would argue it received as much attention as it did, was the way people felt about the movie. I guess that sounds vague, but consider that all of the main characters are cheats, murderers, and otherwise unwholesome characters. But there is an eerie humor to the entire movie. I’ve never felt so uncomfortable when I wanted to laugh. For all of the horrific and sometimes graphic violence in the movie, at times I wanted to laugh (or at least I found parts funny).
Consequently, that dark, brooding, and uncomfortable humor is what I find refreshing. I think the movie’s portrayal of human nature, when faced with the unconscionable acts of others, holds true. No matter what terrible things may happen, there is nothing an individual can do to avoid those events. While the degree of anguish might vary, and indeed it does to a great degree, there are times when a person is going to face the worst. And in the face of the worst, sometimes the best a person can do is look for the humor in life. Fargo was both violent and humorous at the same time; you couldn’t have either without experiencing it all. In this case, art certainly imitated life.
