Fargo is the most commercially and critically successful film of Ethan and Joel Coen. Immediately recognized as an important work, it was nominated for five Academy Awards and received two, an exceptional achievement for a low budget, independently produced film without major stars. Fargo is also a film that explores middle-American themes and settings from an original and unsettling perspective, challenging traditional genre structures. This volume explores Fargo from a variety of methodological perspectives. Providing a detailed account of the film's production, reception and place within the career of the Coen brothers, it explores issues and themes that are important to current film discourse, including genre, gender and sexuality, race, history, culture and myth.