Fargo Scene Analysis: “The Opening Scene”

Every scene in this movie is great, but this first scene? It’s really great.

Scene Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHQDc3YQw4w

Scene Context:

Jerry is a mild-mannered car salesman who is privately in debt. He’s meeting with two noted criminals in hopes to get out of debt.

Scene Conflicts:

• Jerry doesn’t want to explain himself.
• The criminals don’t understand Jerry’s plan.

Scene Outline:

1. Jerry enters the bar. Spots the criminals (Carl and Gaear) sitting in a booth, surrounded by empty beer bottles.
2. Jerry introduces himself to them. Carl says he’s an hour late. Jerry apologizes, worriedly says that their mutual friend gave him the wrong time.
3. Carl asks if Jerry has the car. Jerry enthusiastically agrees. Carl invites him to sit down.
4. Jerry asks if they’re all okay with the plan. Carl questions why they wouldn’t be okay. Jerry backtracks, says he has full confidence in them. Offers them the keys to the car.
5. Carl stops him, says they’re also supposed to get $40,000 from Jerry. Jerry tries to explain that the money will come later, thinking their mutual friend had explained this to them. Carl says all they heard was that Jerry was supposed to be there an hour ago.
6. Jerry again tries to explain the plan, but Carl says he doesn’t want to debate, but doesn’t understand Jerry’s plan at all. Asks if it’s true that Jerry wants them to kidnap his wife. Jerry agrees.
7. Carl explains his confusion with the plan, and how it seems convoluted. Jerry explains it won’t be his money being used to pay the ransom, but his father-in-law’s money.
8. Carl and Gaear question why Jerry doesn’t just ask his family for money. Jerry says that they don’t know that he’s in debt. Says it’s all personal.
9. Carl tries to explain his confusion with the plan again, but stops himself.

Why It Works:

Incessant Conflict: Every line of dialogue in this scene is a point of conflict for these characters. From the very beginning, Carl is grilling Jerry about being late. There’s one point of conflict. In the next line, Carl is questioning Jerry’s faith in them. Another point of conflict. Carl then expresses doubt in Jerry’s plan as a whole. Another conflict. Each one of these conflicts builds and builds, keeping the scene engaging and allowing the audience to get important plot information without dragged down with details.

Exposition Through Confusion: A key conflict built steadily into the second half of the scene is the element of Carl and Gaear’s shared confusion over Jerry’s plan. This forces Jerry to explain his plan to them, but because his plan is so confusing, and because Jerry speaks with such a reserved, unassuming fashion, it’s hard for the criminals (and the audience) to comprehend what his plan is. And so, as Jerry fires off exposition, it doesn’t feel boring in the slightest. Rather, it becomes a revealing base for who each of these characters are and, more importantly, answers the question of why they are together.

Contrasting Personalities: We learn a worthwhile amount about who these characters are just by how they interact with one another. Jerry is almost always apologizing to Carl, who is almost always accusatory. Meanwhile, Gaear is silent, only involving himself in the scene when money is mentioned. Though it’s only about 2 minutes worth of dialogue, we suddenly know the main beats of each of these key characters, and similarly, how they will function in relation to each other as this story unfolds.

Give Him a Secret: Though Jerry shares a great deal of plot details, there’s still stuff he withholds. Namely, he refuses to explain why he’s in debt, and why his family doesn’t know about it. This creates conflict between him and the criminals, but more importantly, it makes him engaging as a character. Suddenly he’s more than a mild-mannered midwestern car salesman. Now he’s a mild-mannered midwestern car salesman… with a secret. He’s infinitely more interesting and mysterious, and we, as an audience, are infinitely more willing to watch in hopes of learning what this secret may be.

Summary:

As far as character introductions go, it’s harder to paint a better picture than the Coen Brothers do here. By giving each character a distinct tick while simultaneously giving each of them a mysterious nature, the scene is able to expand amongst their bickering. On top of this, their bickering reveals important plot details that, were they not espoused by such interesting personalities, would likely have been forgotten or taken with grievance.