Snow and Setting in Fargo

The snowy, flat setting of Fargo is hugely beneficial to its cinematography. The snow on the ground and in the sky is often used to create a blank white canvas upon which other figures are placed. This not only means that the image becomes beautiful in color, as the frame becomes predominantly white with subtle bluish gradients, but also beautiful in composition. Many well-done exterior compositions in the film would not be possible if the setting were different.

This extreme wide shot of a car driving across the horizon is when we first meet Showalter and Grimsrud. Wide shots like this one typically put the horizon two-thirds of the way down from the top of the frame in order to follow the rule of thirds. However, the horizon here is much lower and the sky basically fills the whole frame. The camera is able to be tilted so far up for this shot because it purposefully emphasizes the snowy whiteness of the sky. Doing so shows the isolation and sparseness of rural Minnesota. Perhaps it also shows the isolation and sociopathy of Showalter and more so Grimsrud.

Here is a shot with great use of pattern, balance and contrast which occurs after we find out wade intends to not give a real estate investment to Jerry but instead buy the property himself and give Jerry only a finder's fee. The camera is in a bird’s eye view, which is a shot often used to show death. Here, not a person but rather Jerry’s plan has died. The shot is monochromatic as everything is either white or black, which is of course only possible because of the snow. It’s an interesting composition in that the lamp posts and trees are spread in a pleasant pattern about the frame with the white of the snow creating discrete negative space.

The shot right after when Marge shoots Grimsrud shows great depth of frame. We see trees on the right in the foreground, Marge and Grimsrud mid ground, and the rest of the forest in the background. The top and bottom of the trees on the right also form distinct leading lines to Grimsrud. In fact, the trees form an arrow pointing towards him. These distinct leading lines would not exist had there been no snow. The white of the snow on the ground and in the sky help this be a successful wide shot as they quickly bring attention to that which is important.

Fargo was nominated for an oscar for best cinematography and won the oscar for best picture. Perhaps the reason for this is that the setting dramatically aided in the film’s cinematography. A snowy winter in a flat countryside created beautiful color and composition which not only made the film look better but also made it easier to understand.