Fargo (1996)

Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy crime thriller film written, produced, edited, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand as a pregnant Minnesota police chief who investigates a series of local homicides, and William H. Macy as a struggling car salesman who hires two criminals to kidnap his wife. The film also features Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, Harve Presnell and John Carroll Lynch. The film earned seven Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Original Screenplay for the Coens and Best Actress in a Leading Role for McDormand. It also won the BAFTA Award and the Award for Best Director for Joel Coen at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. In 2006, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and inducted into the United States National Film Registry for preservation, making it one of five films to have been preserved in their first year of eligibility. The film was followed by the critically acclaimed FX television series created and written by Noah Hawley, with the Coen brothers acting as executive producers.