Fargo
Fargo
The Coen brothers created one of their most influential hits with this utterly fictional “true story” about an auto salesman who has his wife kidnapped in order to defraud her wealthy father, only to find his plan fall apart catastrophically. The film won Oscars for the original screenplay by Ethan and Joel Coen and for Frances McDormand’s performance as police chief Marge Gunderson, the film’s moral center. Fargo was also nominated for Best Picture, directing, supporting actor William H. Macy’s performance (unforgettable as the weaselly Jerry Lundegaard), film editing, and for cinematography by Roger Deakins, who found remarkable visual variety in the story’s unforgivingly cold landscapes.
DIRECTED BY: Joel Coen. WRITTEN BY: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen. WITH: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell. 1996. 95 min. USA. Color. English. Rated R. 35mm. Print courtesy of the Academy Film Archive.
Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation.
Theater accessibility accommodations available upon request. Learn more about our accessibility initiatives.
Back to Main Series
More in Series
Film Program
Sun, Apr 28
The Godfather in 4K
Special guests: Pre-screening conversation with Rebecca Brando and actor Penelope Ann Miller.
Film Program
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Special guest: Introduction by George Feltenstein, Discovery Library Historian at Warner Bros.
Film Program
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Purple Rain
Pre-screening discussion with costume designer Marie France and actor Jill Jones moderated by Academy Museum Director and President Jacqueline Stewart
Film Program
Sunday, October 1, 2023
Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso)
Special guest: Introduction by writer, director Giuseppe Tornatore
Film Program
January 14, 2024
A Woman under the Influence in 35mm
Added to the National Film Registry in 1990.
Film Program
January 21, 2024
Buena Vista Social Club in 35mm
Added to the National Film Registry in 2020.
Film Program
February 25, 2024
10 Years After the Win: 12 Years a Slave
Pre-screening conversation with Steve McQueen, Producer, Director and Alfre Woodard, Actor, moderated by Ellen C. Scott, Associate Professor, Cinema and Media Studies at UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Film Program
Sunday, April 7, 2024
A Streetcar Named Desire
Special guests: Pre-screening conversation with Rebecca Brando, Miko Brando, actor Ed Begley Jr.; actor Cary Elwes; biographer Susan Mizruchi; costumer David Page.
Film Program
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Julius Caesar in 35mm
Special guest: Introduction by journalist Patt Morrison.
