FARGO (MA15+) presented on 35mm

Fargo at The Revival House Perth

In the frozen Minnesota winter of 1987, hapless car salesman Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) hatches a desperate scheme to solve his financial troubles: hire two criminals to kidnap his own wife so he can split the ransom money with them, exploiting his wealthy father-in-law's resources. But when the inept kidnappers Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) bungle the abduction and leave three bodies in their wake, the plan spirals catastrophically out of control. Enter Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), the heavily pregnant police chief of Brainerd, whose folksy demeanor and "Minnesota nice" exterior conceals a razor-sharp investigative mind. As Marge methodically unravels the crime, Jerry's desperation deepens, and the body count rises in this bleak, snow-covered landscape where ordinary people commit extraordinarily violent acts.

Joel and Ethan Coen's 1996 masterpiece is a pitch-black comedy that somehow finds both humor and humanity in horrific violence. McDormand delivers an Oscar-winning performance as Marge, creating one of cinema's most beloved characters—a thoroughly decent person navigating an indecent world with unwavering moral clarity. The film's distinctive rhythm alternates between deadpan comedy and shocking brutality, with Roger Deakins' stark cinematography turning the white Minnesota snowscape into a canvas for blood and moral rot. The Coens' meticulous attention to regional dialect and character detail makes even the most outlandish moments feel disturbingly plausible. Carter Burwell's haunting score and the film's careful pacing build to a wood-chipper climax that's become legendary, while Marge's final speech about senseless violence provides the film's devastating emotional core.

Original format and audio experience of this film faithfully reproduced by The Revival House. Presented in 35mm film unless noted otherwise.

When: Wednesday, February 25th at 7:30PM
Where: The Revival House at the Como Theatre
Rating: MA 15+ (Strong violence and coarse language)

Oh yah, you betcha—the Coens' masterwork of Midwestern manners meeting murderous mayhem, on 35mm film where every frozen frame cuts like Minnesota wind.

Presented by: The Revival House Perth