Fargo: Kindness in an Unkind World
Sunday, October 25, 2020 at 10:31AM 
With Frances McDormand back in the Oscar conversation thanks to Chloe Zhao's Nomadland, I'm reminded of some discussions I had when Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri was making its way through the festival circuit. On first viewing, I was more charmed by the movie than many of my friends and colleagues (subsequent re-watches killed that initial goodwill), finding myself defending some of the picture's elements to its impassioned detractors. Three years later, there's still a critique of Frances McDormand's second Oscar-winning performance that infuriates me, even though I'm no big fan of her turn as Mildred Hayes.
According to people whose opinions I respect, McDormand was doing the same thing she always does. More alarmingly, I was told that the actress was just repeating her first Oscar-winning performance in Fargo. Whatever one may think about this thespian's pair of Academy Award-winning works, they are different, diametrically opposed even. In many ways, Mildred is the antithesis of Marge Gunderson…
Frances McDormand takes a while to enter the narrative of Fargo, but when she does, one can't help but be shocked and charmed by her demeanor. The cosmos where the Coen brothers set their stories is one ruled by nihilism, sarcasm, and a withering lack of sincerity. To be kind in such a world is often equal to being weak or the naïve laughing stock of some other cruel character. With her pregnant belly and cheery disposition, Marge is the exception that proves the rule, standing out among the Coen's collection of protagonists as a ray of sunshine banishing the darkness.
Through the filmmakers' conception of Marge, we find out that such a kind spirit doesn't exist apart from the evils of the world. As a police officer investigating ghoulish murders, she's a shrewd observer who's accustomed to seeing human degradation. However, McDormand never erases her character's essential goodness, not even when illustrating the toll that violence has had on her soul. It may be funny to watch this woman wobble through a crime scene firing witty dialogue with a thick Minnesotan accent, but we're always aware of both her intelligence and integrity.
Playing luminously good people for the camera is a big challenge, with the actor always tempted to comment upon their character. Whether equating kindness to dimness or joy to infantile innocence, it's easy to fall on psychologically flat reductivism, betraying one's role while trying to make them more interesting to the viewer. McDormand never does this. Instead, she elevates Marge from the realm of caricature to an upper echelon of believable humanity. This woman doesn't live above the nihilism of the Coen cosmos, she is drowning in it, shaped by it, and chooses to resist it. Marge's kindness is natural but she's not without steel or revulsion, without awareness or doubt.
Watching her interview reluctant witnesses is hilarious, though believable, while her dealings with a friend from the past are excruciating in their sharp awkwardness. Marge is always in control during these scenes and McDormand is in control too, differentiating genuine cheer from polite social warfare, delineating how her character fights to not succumb to the horror of her surroundings. Throughout her investigation, the policewoman has seen evils she didn't know before these events, she's horrified, but she must move on. Her last few scenes, starting with a grisly discovery and an armed confrontation, thus play like a severe morality tale.
In these moments, McDormand plays Marge as unbelievably tired. She's also stern, like a stone monument facing a mighty storm and refusing to be made into rubble. It's quietly beautiful, one of the best depictions of psychological resilience in modern cinema and the best acting this Triple Crown winner has ever delivered. How is this, in any way, shape, or form, similar to the vitriolic sharpness of Three Billboards? Marge is defined by her choice of kindness over the pull of suffering. She's played lightly, with interior details woven on the margins of scenes. Mildred is a blunter exercise, someone who looked evil in the eye and succumbed to the siren call of despondence, turning embittered and cruel.
As a performer, Frances McDormand has her ticks and tricks, her repertoire of expression and vocal plasticity, but to say she's constantly repeating herself seems to miss the point of her work and the reality of her characters. While I haven't yet seen Nomadland, I eagerly await seeing what new shapes McDormand has twisted her screen persona into. Superficially, she might not seem like the most versatile of modern actresses, but few can compare to her control of tone or the malleability with which she adapts to her films' specificities. She's never just repeating what she did in Fargo!
Fargo is now available to stream on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Reader Comments (29)
I've never heard anyone claim that the performances are similar, and I don't know how you could do that unless your sense of Fargo comes only from the Wiki plot description. So these people whose opinions you respect, Claudio... I don't know about these people.
But maybe I was blind to some corner of conversation because her turn in Fargo is my favourite best actress winner in my lifeftime (with recent competition from Olivia Colman), and I thought her work in Billboards was nothing special.
Excellent piece. Marge Gunderson is quite possibly my favorite fictional character ever and you captured what makes her so special.
I have seen plenty of people say that McDormand plays the same character over and over. When I see that, I do wonder if those same people have seen a large portion of her filmography or if they are just reacting to her unique public persona.
Three Billboards is one of the worst best picture nominee I have ever seen, up there with Green Book. And probably the most homophobic, racist, and most fake feminist film I experienced. I like Frances McDormand, bit she alone can't save the film for me.
Mike in Canada -- I was covering a film festival when I first saw Three Billboards and this was a talking point among some of the young critics there. I was gobsmacked and have never forgotten it. Just to make sure I wasn't misremembering stuff, I went back to my notes for that coverage, and there I found my incredulous writings on some of those comparisons.
To be fair, this might have been a very insular reaction that didn't spread outside my personal bubble, but I wanted to write this from my own perspective. Since 2017, whenever I think about McDormand I think about those weird conversations where I felt like I was going crazy when people kept saying Frances was just repeating herself from Fargo.
Sorry if this piece is a bit more personal than usual, and for the vague "subtweet" vibe it might give off. In any case, I wanted to take this opportunity to write about one of the most unusual Best Actress victories. McDormand in Fargo is beyond perfect and I'm glad others adore her as much as I do. She's certainly in my top 3 winners of my lifetime.
Well, I was one of those people who disliked Three Billboards intensely. My distaste didn't spill over to Frances though. I think she acquitted herself just fine, it was the screenplay that let me down. Though I'd be willing to revisit the movie in this Trump era. Maybe it would help me understand better. I almost felt it was a personal victory when the movie was not nominated for Best Director (I got that correct, right?) and didn't go all the way to Best Picture.
As for Fargo, I think the movie is terrific and McDormand is the MVP of the movie. Maybe the most indelible role/actressing of the past 30 years or so. It's hard to imagine anyone else out there playing the role, certainly not as well.
Sorry, I am also not brave enough to say that she's better than Eemily Watson in Breaking the Waves.
100% with you on that one, Claudio.
She's a talented performer and the roles that won her the oscar demanded totally different skills.
This is one of my favorite best actress wins (Fargo). I really disliked "Three Billboards" and was rooting for Robbie or Ronan. That said ,the performances were totally different.
The kindness and inner strength of the character of Marge is one of the best rounded women characters in modern film and McDormand is most excellent in this portraying her.
I loved Fargo and felt so excited about "the movies" after seeing it. Such a refreshing character, and I became a big Coen Brothers fan. They rarely disappoint.
I don't think Three Billboards was anything special.
I remember reviewers saying her performance was flat, that she was only being mean and yelling (just doing one thing) in the movie. Then the Oscar clip was her tender moment with the deer and her tearfully reminiscing about her daughter. People said similar complaints about Natalie Portman's performance in Black Swan- that her one note was just being scared. But her Oscar clip was one of surprised tearful joy (He picked me Mommy) McDormand in TBOEM is giving a different performance from Fargo and giving a fully fleshed out character she clearly put thought into.
Part of me can't believe that I'm defending TBOEM since I really didn't care for it and a lot of the criticism of the film is valid. But for people to make up wrongs that aren't even there is just lazy. Thank you Claudio for not just your wonderful writing but actual research and knowledge of film history.
Amazingly I just rewatched “Fargo” the other day! I had forgotten how long it takes for Marge to appear, and how much screen time continues to be held by the other (non-Marge) plot lines throughout. And I think my surprise was really because McDormand is just such a singular presence. In my memory, the film was all her. And in rewatching, it was so amazing how she was the center of gravity despite far less time on screen than expected.
I like Fargo and most of the performers in it but I just don't get the heaps of praise Frances gets in 96 which as i'm old enough to remember was a very competitive year,I think all the women below are superior to her that year inc the 5 nominees.
No room for Streep,Kidman,Madonna,Rowlands,Reynolds,Ryder or Courtney Love.
Great piece, Claudio. I love McDormand as Marge in Fargo. It's a great, highly skilled performance. You're right: her role in 3BB is totally different.
Some feedback: I don't think you need to apologize to readers who disagree with you. Thanks for all your good work!
Claudio, this is such a masterful distillation of a performance that’s insanely hard to deconstruct. Saving this to read many more times. And to echo everyone else, McDormand’s performance here is not only one of the most surprising Best Actress winners, it’s among the greatest of my lifetime.
McDormand is lovely in Fargo, but it's honestly a travesty that she triumphed over Emily Watson, whose performance in Breaking the Waves is seismic and inarguably one of the best ever committed to film.
I love Franny! I think criticism for her Oscar wins stem from items not directly related to her acting.
McDormand is not a typical Hollywood star. She doesn't don designer duds for the red carpet. She fails to have the weaves and the jewels. Some folks don't like that deviation from traditional behavior. McDormand tends to speak seriously and openly about her views. Women are expected to be emotional when winning prizes. When people can't fit a woman into the box they have designated for her, they tend to be critical.
As for Three Billboards, I think some moviegoers just don't get Martin McDonagh's acerbic wit. Nothing is funnier in that movie than the moment when Mildred meets a deer in the early morning. She remarks about how pretty the deer is, but that the animal is not her murdered daughter. That is a direct parody of Helen Mirren in The Queen when Elizabeth has a moment alone with a doe. Nothing is said but Mirren shows us that the monarch has an immediate shift in her viewpoint. McDormand imbues the cinematic moment in her film with the character's unspoken grief but doesn't let us miss the wit in the juxtaposition to the similar encounter in that other prestige movie.
I prefer to erase 3 Billboards completely out of my memory as it never existed and keep the good moments I had with Frances from Fargo and Almost Famous. 3B is the worst BP contender since I started to follow the Oscars back in 1994. It is just so wrong in so many ways...
Though I shockingly don’t have room for her in my lineup (and ACAB), Frances McDormand for FARGO is such a great Best Actress winner. I do not share the same affection for her second victory.
How on earth did McDormand triumph over Ronan, Robbie, and Hawkins??? It had something to do with the Me Too movement and nature of the role. Mind boggling.
People tend to become very lazy discussing Three Billboards.
I'll play. I'll bet I can come up with at least a dozen BP contenders since '94 that were worse (or not better) than Three Billboards.
Okay: Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Braveheart, Chocolat, Crash, The Reader, The Blind Side, Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Django Unchained, Silver Linings Playbook, The Revenant, Bohemian Rhapsody, Green Book, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
All a matter of perspective...
I don't know any person in my daily life that doesn't like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, I even have friends who think it should have won Best Picture. The same goes for The Blind Side and Green Book. I don't know anyone who doesn't like it. All the hate comes from the internet.
Frances McDormand totally deserves her Oscar for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri. Instead the year of her Oscar for Fargo the winner must have been Brenda Blethyn.
Might be a USA thing when it comes to her Marge because I seriously don't know what's so special about it, even at times I felt it was an infuriatingly bad performance played miles away better by Allison Tolman. That's maybe why she lost that Golden Globe to Madonna, proving (maybe) why international audiences don't connect with it.
Her Mildred is a much superior performance.
Many actors land parts that fall into a certain tenor or category. For McDormand, it's the strong, witty type who rarely (but usually does at some point in the film) show vulnerability. It's sort of a specialty of hers, if you will. Marge and Mildred are not much alike despite this generalized similarity. And I thought she showed more range in 3 Billboards, despite Fargo being a better film and a more iconic role.
Very few white people understand the problems of 3 Billboards, Green Book, the Blind Side, and the Help. I've given up on that.
Thanks for this Claudio - if there's any doubt about Frances work you have a look what she does with 'Olive Kitterarge' (she's phenomenal).
It is strange to read the comments, some of them are so 'anti' - but I remember there was so much rave about 3 Billboards when it came out ... what happened ?
I loved it as it's an actors film for me and all 3 are absolutely fantastic. I still would have given the Oscar to Saoirse - but I'm happy with their choice. McDormand is and was back then in 96 a very odd choice for the Academy and I appreciate that move ! The rest comes down to taste.
McDormand is immaculate in Olive Kitteradge. She's also great in Three Billboards and richly deserved the win. Ronan should have won for Brooklyn instead of just alright Larson in Room.
@James
Frances is a character actor who has found herself the beneficiary of lead wins at the Oscars, the Emmys, and Tonys.
Dave in Hollywood -- While I initially defended 3 BILLBOARDS, subsequent re-watches made me revise my opinion on it. I guess you can say I'm one of those people who despise the picture and still complain about its award successes. All that being said, I admire its cast and how they work to breathe life into their parts, even when neither the writing nor the directing is giving them much help. Like you, I was relieved when McDonagh missed on a Best Director nomination.
Sam -- They're both stupendous. In the end, I guess I'd vote for Watson, but it's a tough call.
Tom G -- Thank you for your kind words.
RV -- It is shocking how little she is in the movie. Considering all Best Actress winners, she's the one that takes the longest to appear in her film.
markgordonuk -- I think the '96 Best Actress lineup is quite great, but my ballot would be different. As you say, it was a great year for actresses. My nominees would have been McDormand, Watson, Kidman, Jean-Baptiste (who's a lead), and Laurence Côte for THIEVES.
Rob -- Thanks for the kind words. Regarding my pathological need to constantly apologize, I'm afraid that's a bit of a personal tick. Some friends joke that I sometimes sound like I'm apologizing for my existence.
James -- I initially thought the deer moment was satyric, but subsequent re-watches made me doubt that. It's played so straight, so sincerely, that I fear it's just a piece of sentimental schmaltz where one doesn't fit.
Antônio -- BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is way worse, IMHO.
Michael R -- As much as I love McDormand, I'd rank her last in 2017 out of the five nominees. That being said, she's not bad in the role and does quite a lot to carve humanity out of a caricature of coagulated grief.
martin & DI -- She's masterful in OLIVE KITTERIDGE. It's one of her best performances and I love the miniseries.
Thank you all for the feedback. I confess I wasn't expecting this piece to get so many comments, but I'm quite gleeful about it. Thank you.