The Coen Brothers' Fargo (Cambridge Film Handbooks)

Fargo Is The Most Commercially And Critically Successful Film Of Ethan And Joel Coen. Immediately Recognized As An Important Work, It Was Nominated For Five Academy Awards And Received Two, An Exceptional Achievement For A Low-budget, Independently Produced Film Without Major Stars. Fargo Is Also A Film That Explores Middle-american Themes And Settings From An Original And Unsettling Perspective, Challenging Traditional Genre Structures. This Volume Explores Fargo From Various Methodological Perspectives. Providing A Detailed Account Of The Film's Production, Reception, And Place Within The Career Of The Coen Brothers, It Explores Issues And Themes That Are Important To Current Film Discourse, Including Genre, Gender And Sexuality, Race, History, Culture, And Myth.--jacket. Fargo In Context: The Middle Of Nowhere / David Sterritt -- Motherhood, Homicide, And Swedish Meatballs: The Quiet Triumph Of The Maternal In Fargo / Pamela Grace -- Fargo, Or The Blank Frontier / Christopher Sharrett -- Kinda Funny Lookin: Steve Buscemi's Disorderly Body / Mikita Brottman -- Fargo: Far Removed From The Stereotypes Of ... / William Luhr -- Closer To The Life Than The Conventions Of Cinema: Interview With The Coen Brothers (conducted In Cannes On May 16, 1996) / Michel Ciment, Hubert Niogret -- Cold-blooded Scheming: Roger Deakins And Fargo / Chris Probst -- Carter Burwell In Conversation: Music For The Films Of Joel And Ethan Coen / Philip Brophy -- Review Of Fargo / Thomas Doherty -- Prairie Home Death Trip / Harvey Roy Greenberg. Edited By William G. Luhr. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 157-158) And Index. Filmography Of Joel And Ethan Coen: P. 151-155. Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page xi) Contributors (page xiii) 1 Introduction (William Luhr, page 1) 2 Fargo in Context: The Middle of Nowhere? (David Sterritt, page 10) 3 Motherhood, Homicide, and Swedish Meatballs: The Quiet Triumph of the Maternal in Fargo (Pamela Grace, page 33) 4 Fargo, or the Blank Frontier (Christopher Sharrett, page 55) 5 "Kinda Funny Lookin'": Steve Buscemi's Disorderly Body (Mikita Brottman, page 77) 6 Fargo: "Far Removed from the Stereotypes of..." (William Luhr, page 92) 7 Closer to the Life Than the Conventions of Cinema: Interview with the Coen Brothers (conducted in Cannes on May 16, 1996) (Michel Ciment and Hubert Niogret, page 109) 8 Cold-Blooded Scheming: Roger Deakins and Fargo (Chris Probst, page 119) 9 Carter Burwell in Conversation: Music for the Films of Joel and Ethan Coen (Philip Brophy, page 128) 10 Review of Fargo (Thomas Doherty, page 137) 11 Prairie Home Death Trip (Harvey Roy Greenberg, page 142) Filmography of Joel and Ethan Coen (page 151) Selected Bibliography (page 157) Index (page 159) The most commercially and critically successful film of Ethan and Joel Coen, Fargo was nominated for five Academy Awards and received two, an exceptional achievement for a low budget, independently produced film. This volume explores Fargo from a variety of perspectives. Providing a detailed account of the film's production, reception and place within the career of the Coen brothers, it covers issues and themes significant to current film discourse, including genre, gender and sexuality, race, history, culture and myth.