Fargo (1996 film)

Fargo is a 1996 black comedy crime film written, directed, produced and edited by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell, and Peter Stormare. In the film, police chief Marge Gunderson (McDormand) investigates a triple homicide that takes place after car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (Macy) hires two dim-witted criminals to kidnap his wife to extort a ransom from her wealthy father.

Filmed in the United States in late 1995, Fargo premiered at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, where it competed for the Palme d'Or. Joel Coen won the festival's Prix De La Mise En Scène (Best Director Award). The film was a critical and commercial success, earning particular acclaim for the Coens' direction and script and the performances of McDormand, Macy and Buscemi. Fargo received seven Oscar nominations at the 69th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor for Macy, winning two: Best Actress for McDormand and Best Original Screenplay for the Coens.

In 1998, the American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest American films in history (the most recent film on the list up to that point) but it was subsequently de-listed in 2007. In 2006, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." A Coen-produced FX television series of the same name, inspired by the film and taking place in the same fictional universe, premiered in 2014 and received widespread critical acclaim.