7 - Closer to the Life Than the Conventions of Cinema: Interview with the Coen Brothers (conducted in Cannes on May 16, 1996)

Summary

Was Fargo inspired by a news item, as the press dossier claims, or have you invented a false trail

Joel Coen: Generally speaking the movie is based on a real event, but the details of the story and the characters are invented. It didn't interest us to make a documentary film, and we undertook no research on the nature or details of the murders. But, by telling the public that we took our inspiration from reality, we knew they wouldn't see the movie as just an ordinary thriller.

Did that kidnapping (of a woman, organized by her husband) have many repercussions back in 1987

Ethan Coen: No. In fact, it's astonishing how things of that nature receive so little publicity. We heard about it through a friend who lived near to where the drama took place in Minnesota, which is also the state we originate from.

Why have you called the film Fargo when the main action is situated in Brainerd, which is a town in Minnesota

Joel: Fargo seemed a more evocative title to us than Brainerd, that's the reason.

Ethan: It's literally the sound of the word that we liked. There's no hidden meaning.

Joel: There's a Western connotation, with Wells Fargo, but we didn't intend that, it's just something people have picked up on.