Fargo
SBS and Stan
LIKE many Coen Brothers films, Fargo was both a cult film and mainstream hit.
The 1996 tale of murder, kidnapping and wood-chippers was memorable not only for its comedy/thriller plot, but the snowbound Minnesota landscape and wacky regional accents.
Almost 20 years after its release, Fargo has been brought back to life as a TV series, showing on SBS and new online provider Stan.
The series starts with a murder and escalates from there. The bodies soon start stacking up, with Billy Bob Thorton’s casual killer responsible for most of them.
It’s hard to say much more without giving away key plot developments, but this is a series that gets it claws into viewers right from the start.
Like the film, Fargo uses the snowy landscape as a key feature of both the storytelling and look of the series.
Bleak, forbidding and magnificent at the same time, the flat, white land of Minnesota is a wonderful stage for the actors to stand upon. The snow and ice also makes for great blood spatter.
By the way, what is it about English actors that has them cast in lead roles of major American TV series?
Martin Freeman (The Office, The Hobbit) as Lester Nigard puts on his best north central USA accent – you betcha’, darn tootin’ – and does it as well as any of the native speakers.
Andrew Lincoln does a similarly good job with his deep south Georgia accent in The Walking Dead.
Wherever they come from, the actors, writers and cinematographers of Fargo have created a darkly hilarious series that is as good as anything being made for TV at the moment.
With the second series on the way, make sure you snap on the snowshoes and warm to this quirky series.
– Danny Buttler
