Archived Analysis: Atonement and Fargo

Every week, I’m going to post an "Archived Analysis", meaning a review of a film or two from the past. One of them will be from my list of my 30 favorite films, while another will just be a movie I wanted to review.

Zach’s 30 Favorite Films: #30

Atonement
Directed by: Joe Wright
Starring: James McAvoy, Keira Knightley
Rated: R for Disturbing War Images, Language, and some Sexuality


Joe Wright’s visual adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel Atonement is as close as a book-turned-movie can come; the cinematography and scope is breathtaking (including one of my favorite shots of all time), it’s brilliantly paced, well acted, and the story captures the emotion, atmosphere, character and (unfortunately) heavy content of McEwan’s novel. Many considering to watch this film will be concerned about the unrelenting sexual tension of the first half, or the grisly war-images of the latter half, for very good reason; the film is incredibly harsh, and not one that I can always fully enjoy (and one that I don’t recommend to everyone.) However, the story succeeds in depicting these events, not in a glorification of the said content, but in a tragic telling of the story; character makes decisions, jump to conclusions, and must live with the consequences of those actions for the rest of their lives, without any real hope of finding atonement for those sins. It’s a tragic tale that accurately portrays a life apart from a relationship with God, filled with guilt and without any hope of finding forgiveness.

Fargo
Directed by: Joel Coen
Starring: Frances McDormand, William H. Macy, Steve Buscemi
Rated: R for strong violence, language and sexuality


The classic film of the 1990s that put the Coen brothers on the map, Fargo is a unforgettable tale of how far the mundane will go in order to “find” happiness; in this case, a few hundred thousand dollars. It’s a tale that follows several characters, all involved in a kidnapping scheme that echoes the Bible’s warning of “your sin will find you out.” At the beginning, some relatively ordinary people living in an ordinary American town try to avoid the consequences of their actions, resulting in a life of escalating violence, mistrust, pain, suffering, and guilt, leaving the town’s bumbling woman detective (terrifically portrayed by Frances McDormand) as the only “normal” (and likable) character in the story. Like all of the Coens’ films, Fargo has deep nihilistic roots, but only because the world around them, including a simple town in North Dakota, doesn’t make any sense to them.