FARGO Movie: Analysis and Screenwriting Tips
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 มิ.ย. 2024
- In this video essay, discover screenwriting tips in the movie FARGO (1996), a powerhouse of a screenplay by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
Screenwriting tips in FARGO:
00:00 Introduction
00:29 Establish the Rules of the Game
01:59 Respect the Audience
04:48 The Devil is in the Details (Be Specific, Not Generic)
07:09 Reveal Character Through Action
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FARGO (1996)
Screenplay by Joel & Ethan Coen
#32 on WGA's 101 Greatest Screenplays:
www.wga.org/writers-room/101-...
SPECIAL THANKS TO:
Brenda Garcia
Nicholas Barragan
William Chevalier
#screenwriting #fargo #coenbrothers - ภาพยนตร์และแอนิเมชัน
![How the Coen Brothers Direct Comedy & Violence [Directing Styles Explained]](/img/n.gif)
The most recent draft I wrote was super generic. And I did a pass keeping in mind the 'Be Specific' bit. Definitely made the story at least 1% better. There's so much to learn. Thanks guys. Please keep putting out videos.
Thanks for watching, Sridhar! I'm glad you got something useful out of it.
In the infamous scene with Mike Yanagita, Marge doesn't let him sit next to her and softens the blow by saying she prefers to face her companion across the table. In the buffet scene she and her husband sit on the same side of the table.
I did NOT notice this.
The way Jerry wails when the police are arresting him was always so disturbing to me. Like an actual weasel caught by its tail. Like he can’t hide his true form anymore, they’ve caught him, the real him, the weasel
I think another important detail is the subtext the Coen's use. And how their introduction of interesting/compelling side characters utilizes this idea. Mike Yanagita is a great character to elucidate the subtext of Marge coming to the realization that no matter how someone appears on the outside (friendly, courteous, put together), there can always be more to them and their true intentions can be revealed. This is found out when Marge discovers that Yanagita lied about losing his wife. Thus, Marge is able to use this experience and decides to go back to the dealership to question Jerry further.
Good catch. You're right: the Coens don't let any secondary characters go to waste.
It's possible this is the first non-domestic or accidental homicide she's ever worked.
I always thought Marge was already exceptionally intuitive, and that she wouldn’t have needed that experience to go back and talk to Jerry. But she really seemed surprised when she learned the truth I have changed my mind. Good insight.
One of my favorite under-the-radar aspects of this tour de force film is the relationship of Marge and Norm. They have few scenes together but when they are interacting, the chemistry between the actors expertly conveys the love Marge and Norm have for each other. Marge was *so* proud of his three cent stamp, and, as a result, so was I.
Yes! We learn a lot just from their simple interactions.
Hnmmm but isn't it that she soon realises better to settle for 3 cents mundane relationship than pursuing an affair than a society affair that could wreck it all
@@quackquackbeep no. Marge is a simple woman with simple motivations. Her meeting Yanigita was a courtesy - a meeting with an old friend. At no point was there any sign she was unhappy with her own life. Rather she was disappointed in others not valuing their own or the lives of others they’ve hurt.
Soundtrack in this movie is another character itself. Masterpiece.
Agreed!
I like the comparison of Jerry and Carl.
I didn't notice it that clearly.
It's a great lesson in character orchestration. Also, the difference between Carl and Gaer Grimsrud.
@@ScriptSleuth Was just about to comment that. Great observation!
Coen brothers' use of frequent silent pauses during dialog is totally brilliant.
So I called it in…
End of story.
Reminds me of Pinter in theatre. The pauses say more than the words.
What did Duke Ellington say? You have play the stops.
It's amazing that Margie doesn't appear until about minute 40. In the hands of a lesser writer, this would have been a Lifetime movie of the week where every scene is played cliche and obvious.
It's a great point. It reminds me of Psycho, where the protagonist changes from Marion Crane to Norman Bates around the middle of the movie.
"be spesific and not generic and your story will come to life"...well formulated!
That's probably why the Coen Brothers are so good 🤔
@@ScriptSleuth Very much so!
As much as I know The Big Lebowski is the Coen Brothers most popular movie, I really belive that Fargo is a undisputed masterpiece. (and that's like my opinion man).
Agreed 100%
Agree!
@@ScriptSleuth will you ever do an episode on the Big Lebowski?
Bit late to the party with this video but I have always loved this screenplay for it's sparse, clean pages, minimal action lines and yet it communicates so much. If you want to get your script read, this is a good way to go rather than having text heavy, overly descriptive tomes. This is a joy to read every time I pick it up. I own a copy of the Faber and Faber edition published around the time of the film. I have also spotted the minor changes from script to screen and one that I always remember is from the opening scene when Carl says 'he's peed three times already'. In the script he says 'I've peed three times' - but it feels more accurate in the film - just works better and seems more likely what Carl would say - talking on behalf of his silent partner.
Thanks for the comment, Alex!
Great analysis!!! My fav movie of all time and I think it's definitely mostly because of how compellingly the characters are written. It's obvious that Carl's motormouth gets him into trouble, but I never considered how brilliantly Jerry's lack of self-advocacy parallels that. Good work.
Thanks for watching, Sammi!
Such a hilarious film. I love how accurately the dialogue and accents are to the real locations, fucking great.
Nice video, man! Keep going and you'll grow quickly.
Thanks! You're doing a great job yourself.
Good insight. I always loved Fargo, and never realized the amount of detail in the script. The dialogue seemed so real and authentic.
I thought the same thing. And then you analyze every scene in detail and realize just how much they put into it!
It obviously helped too that the Coens are originally from Minnesota, so the dialogue choices were deliberate since they knew these people.
That was a great point about Carl being Jerry’s shadow version. It had to be intentional and yet you are the only person I’ve heard bring it up. You sir, are a genius.
Oh, I don't know about that. It just becomes apparent when you go over every scene numerous times. Thanks though! 🙂
This film is genius 👏
"Fargo: is a brilliant movie and deserves all the acclaim (Oscars, etc.) it has received!
I going to post on this old thread hoping someone else has noticed something in almost every Cohen bros films :
There are use of visual representation using objects that float through the film with no explanation; the biker in rating Arizona, the hat in millers crossing, the cat dropping objects and body parts onto the ferry on Lady Killers and the “Dapper Dan” can in oh brother where ar’t thou?”… there are more I just can’t think of at
6:54 fun fact: the original script said “blue Sierra” but William Macy really wanted to say “burnt umber Sierra”, so they eventually just let him
Very cool! It really does add a little more to the story.
This is a hilarious classic movie. One thing I noticed is that Grimsrud shot a man with a red jacket on his back. Later when Marge saw Grimsrud she also shot him on his back. I don't know if that's an important aspect but it's kind of funny though.
A good example of mirroring!
In the back of his leg.
That "Go Bears..." has gotta be ad-libbed, because its small and subtle lines like that, that really lets the audience know that the story has people, not just an npc or background character.
Definitely!
Love Fargo. At 2:47, Norm fell asleep with a bag of Old Dutch potato chips. Great regional detail. Native of Upper Midwest, haven’t seen that brand in years.
Exactly! It's details like that that make the story feel more real.
this is brilliant.i found this channel recently but learnt lot from you and ur channel.thank you for also ur english caption for understand better
What most of you don't know is that Mike Yanakida played by Steve Park also played the korean father in Do the right thing. That alone blew my mind even though both Fargo and Do the right thing are like only 7 years apart !
He also played Mr Park in A Serious Man
TWENTEE CEE BATTERIES
@@TomEyeTheSFMguy Yep, noticed that too. Clearly aged in there.
Wow you do so well on all of these!
Can't wait for your glow-up, my guy! These breakdowns are so useful! :D
Thanks, Vicki! I'm glad they're useful to you.
I've found that this movie is similar to the novel _The Great Gatsby_ in that they're both relatively short, always forward moving, and neither have an ounce of flabbiness.
Great Analyses, sir.
I myself think Miller's Crossing is just as great. Underrated.
Wow. Incredible insight. Thank you for this high quality analysis! subscribed.
Thank YOU for watching and subscribing!
Really enjoyed this! Lots to think about next time I write!
Hope it helps!
Another great video !!
Amazing content! You've got yourself a new subscriber.
Thank you! It makes me happy the content was useful to you.
Great channel, Script Sleuth. Your analysis is really insightful.
I think the Coen brothers put a lot of thought and originality into their scripts - and Fargo is a film I really enjoyed - so this was a good choice for study. The idea of making references specific rather than generic is easily overlooked. Not only can the use of overly generic terms ("I'm watching the ice hockey game" vs "I'm watching the Gophers", to borrow your example) make dialogue sound hollow and clunky but it misses the opportunity to add local colour and texture to your film world.
In a stageplay script of mine that I had an amateur theatre group reading one time a character who'd fled London to the remote countryside explains "I borrowed some money off the Turks on the Edgeware Road". Now, I don't know for a fact if there are informal money lenders operating in that part of the city nor whether many, or any, of them are Turkish. I just felt that "the Turks" was a more interesting phrase to use than "some people" and by evoking a High Street setting dominated by Turkish cafes and so forth (little seen in any great concentration within the UK outside of London) it would offer up a pleasing contrast between multicultural London and the ethnically-homogenous rural town the character had ended up in. Sadly someone in the cast was concerned it might be deemed racist so the blander option was the one we used. I kind of saw the point and it really wasn't a battle worth fighting, but it's nice to hear someone else voicing the same kind of ideas.
Great story!
Fargo is a brilliant representation of the mundane. The Coens don't sit in judgment, they just show people in the act of living their lives. Individuals operating in their own universe are not good or bad, they just are. Jerry Lundigard weaves his own web of deceit which is the core of the plot. The writing is so good that you can easily imagine a more complete view of each of the characters lives without having to.
With Cormac McCarthy no gone, it would be interesting to know you thoughts on "The Road"[
There is alot of emphasis on the color "red" to me in this movie, which is the color of the devil. Red is also the color of blood, and this movie also emphasizes that red is a bad color. Just watch the film again and you'll know what I mean.
Interesting. Now I'll have to watch it again!
@@ScriptSleuth I mean it's just a weird theory. But the show also did the same thing too so...
"Jaws" did this really effectively as well.
(Brazilian for Google translate)
great video, I never realized this topic about the details
Cool. Thanks for watching!
Great video!
Thanks for watching, Nazareno!
Great analysis! 🖖
Cheers!
Superb video!
Thanks for watching!
I watched this the other day at the New Bev. One thing that struck me, why do you think the Coens included the plot thread of Jerry trying to do the deal w/ his Father in Law at the same time he's planning the kidnapping? I thought it worked well but when writing a story like this, it wasn't necessarily an obvious choice. Namely because you would think that he wouldn't put the kidnapping in motion until he got a firm "No". I think 99% of the time the screenwriter would wait for that "No" and THEN go through with the kidnapping. It did create a nice situation where he's trying to get ahold of them and can't to cancel it. But what did you think?
I think owing $320,000 would make a man desperate enough to put both wheels in motion. Plus, it creates a nice dilemma for Jerry. The Coens did an excellent job making it even more complicated for him!
Sometimes I think these creative choices are intentionally there to nag at the audience and get them invested, as you said, 'Why is he still trying to do a deal if he's going to have his wife kidnapped anyway?'
It could show his desperation, or poor logic depending on how you interpret the events, but the fact it is unanswered could be seen as an intentional misdirect. We could even say that he is creating a kind of alibi for himself.
As covered in this video, the conversations between them further develop the characters through their intentions and actions, which is probably its chief purpose (from a writing perspective). Just my two cents.
@@Ruylopez778 I think you're right, it's part desperation, part poor logic, and partly that Jerry is just the type who desperately wants to be a big time wheeler-dealer, but always fails to think things through properly
I read it as he was covering all bases. The kidnap was his back up plan - it was clear to him that the chances of getting money from his father in law legitimately were low.
Great stuff. One other thing I would add, even though I'm a little late to the discussion.....how they use both the muscial score and the ambiance/surroundings/environment (weather, giant statue, Jose Filipiano) to move the story along. Genius. And one last thing......is there any better screenwritting in the history of filmaking than the discussion with Mr. Mohra? I think not.....
Yep, you got that right, oooh, anyway, end of story.
Marge didn't have a tryst with Mike. It was a lunch, not a rendezvous.
I'm only going by the subtext of Marge's actions 😃
Agreed--it undermines Norm and Marge's clearly devoted relationship to call it a tryst. She's just getting together with a school pal.
Great great vid!
Thanks, Facundo!
Great video :)
Thanks, Sindri!
great video! one small detail that bugs me, though, is it’s not a “burgundy ‘98” as in 1998, it’s a “burgundy ninety-eight” as in oldsmobile ninety-eight, which is the model of car jerry drives. the movie takes place in 1987, so it can’t be a ‘98 model year.
Oh, great catch! Thanks for the clarification. 😀
It's also Burnt Umber Sierra not Ciera.
How did Carl Showalter get involved in the kidnapping plot? Shep Proudfoot says “don’t know him, don’t vouch for him.” Did Grimsrud decide to bring him on and not tell Shep?
Yeah, that's a little vague. But we quickly forget about it because we're so engrossed in the story. 🙂
It's strange because Shep knows who Carl is despite telling Jerry he doesn't. When Shep beats Carl in the hotel room, they both say things that indicate they've met before and know each other.
@@tony_dogs, makes me wonder why Shep didn't kick Grimsrud's @$$ instead, since he's the one who invited Carl along. Did Grimsrud intend to kill Carl all along in order to keep the entire $40K?
Shep and Carl definitely knew each other from before, I'd have to think that since Shep was on parole he probably wasn't allowed to associate with a known felon and wanted to keep it under wraps that he knew Carl!
My favorite movie
That was amazing !
Thanks for watching, Vijay! And don't forget to subscribe for new videos.
@@ScriptSleuth Done!
Thanks. This was. Er helpful
You're welcome! 🙂
Yeah the real place names is a nice touch, except many of us Minnesotans know darn well that Moose Lake is nowhere near White Bear Lake, and that Edina was never the same school district as Eden Prairie
Haha... I guess you can't win 'em all!
Really great movie.
Agreed!
3 cent stamp...VERY funny line
😅
The coen brothers wrote that he was funny looking and that is Steve Buscemi
Movie also has the grisliest killing scene of Annie movie in modern history, not even the Mexican cartels never thought of a wood chipper
Kind of true 🤔
I've seen Fargo countess times, but the 'faxed serial numbers' bit, while very funny, never seemed to connect to the story - except vaguely to the one car- the burnt umber Sierra. Why all the other cars?
I think they're just setting up the fact that Jerry was committing fraud by receiving financing for cars that didn't exist. That, to me, is the original reason why he was so desperate to get money from his father-in-law, and ultimately decided to "kidnap" his own wife.
The Coens are the greatest living screenwriters
Tell me someone who’s better!
woody is still alive
@@davidparker7216
He isn’t as good though.....
PTA? QT?
What other films would you like to see me cover? Let me know in a comment below!
Goodfellas, E.T.
@@brandonschinzel Both are definitely on the master list!
Terminator, T 2 , District 9, hot fuzz👍
Until I watched this video I totally missed the visual connection between Grimsrud and Paul Bunyan.
Go Bears!
Can you do a Guy Ritchie one please
Great suggestion!
What're the names of your background scores? All of them that you could name.
Oh, god, I couldn't name a single one. I just go through the TH-cam audio library until something sounds good.
@@ScriptSleuth okay then.
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I can't remember... why does Marge meet Mike in the first place?
They give us all the clues: she wakes up one morning and her husband snorts his throat clear of mucus. She brings him a can of nightcrawlers. They sit and eat in silence at a bland buffet.
@@ScriptSleuth Oh, so she's considering hooking up with Mike?
@@littleladyinlalaland1749 I don't think she is. Sure, while it's not the most perfect life there is, she doesn't seem dissatisfied with much or any of it. Or if she is, she's doing a damn good job of hiding it.
@@TomEyeTheSFMguy I didn't think she was either. I think she meets him because she's just an upfront person. An old friend wants to meet her and chat. Her husband is boring and ordinary, and normally, you'd see a film with a the gender roles reversed. The husband would have the boring wife and you'd see the husband dazzled by an old high school friend. But she's very pregnant and certainly not in the mood for romance with this guy.
@@littleladyinlalaland1749 but in the end she sees, after lying Mike and the murder suspect caught, she’s got it pretty good with Norm.
I unfortunately don't find myself good at applying the "be specific, not generic" tip. It's a matter of how to apply it to my story. I feel like you don't explain it enough for at least me to understand. This may also definitely be due to my lack of proper understanding on how to do it.
The hockey game is a good example. If you lived in Minnesota and someone asked you what you were watching, a real local would say, "The Gophers" or "The Wild", not a generic "the hockey game".
@@ScriptSleuth okay. Yeah, I think I get it now. Thanks.
Ya, that was good movie, oh ya?, Ya. You sure but that? Ya. oh ya.
There seems to be a lot of Jerry’s in this world today.
Ha. That's probably true...
How the hell WGA put Shawshank Redemption above Fargo in the 101 greatest screenplays?!!!!!
Wow, that's a tough call!
@@ScriptSleuth they've put Shawshank above Wizard of Oz, Double Indemnity and Unforgiven too. Now that's near sin, if not a clear one.
I preferred Shawshank myself. 😉
She shot a suspect on the back , don't look good in court
He ran, and she shot him in the leg to wound...not to kill like the police today.
Marge and Mike met for lunch. Maybe it was a date.
A tryst is a private romantic rendezvous between lovers.
Why didn't Carl just leave??
Just leave what?
@@TomEyeTheSFMguy
It didn't make sense that he came back after he already had the money, etc.
@@mortalclown3812 He was gonna honor the agreement he and Grimsrud had about splitting 80 grand. He was gonna leave after the argument with Grimsrud, but then Grimsrud attacked him with an ax.
I think without the funny accents in this movie, not many would care about it. I never understood why people like this movie so much.
People care about it because of the story. Simple as that.
Its just hilarious seeing a Japanese man talking with a midnorthern accent like that
Played by a Korean actor!
Great writing in Fargo, but that wasn't a tryst. You need to look up the definition. Marge wasn't Mike's lover. I stopped watching at that point.
Fair enough, perhaps a better word could have been used. Sorry to hear you stopped watching because of that.
I guess it wasn't a tryst, but Mike was trying to romance Marge.
Respect the audience. What a joke. The first thing the Coen's do is lie. This is not a true story, they made that up. I have no respect after that. - Sidney Cris
Is this joke-making or something? I just want to clarify.
Great video!
Thanks, Mauro!