American greed is what keeps bringing Noah Hawley back to Fargo
On the one hand, it’s kind of incredible that Noah Hawley and his collaborators have found five television seasons’ worth of ways to riff and elaborate on Joel and Ethan Coen’s Fargo. It’s a textbook open-and-shut kind of affair, a story about Midwestern criminals and what they would do for “a little bit of money.”
Hawley, however, has found that to be the grim magic of Fargo: There is, in fact, an endless amount of things all kinds of people will do for a little bit of money, and with the original film as his guiding light, the acclaimed/writer director has spun story after darkly comic story about everyday folks who get in over the heads when a sufficiently large amount of cash enters the picture.
Recently, Hawley — who is currently getting back to production on his forthcoming Alien series — spoke with Polygon about his return to Fargo, and why he keeps finding things to say about the Coen Brothers’ film. Namely, how it led him to examine debt, and wives, and societal expectations about both.
Polygon: What’s the idea that made you want to come back to Fargo ?
I wanted to go back to basics on some level, go back to the movie. It’s good to touch base there every once in a while to remind yourself what the original idea was and how it functioned. And I just found myself with that image of a woman on the sofa knitting and a guy in a ski mask comes up on the porch and and it’s a kidnapping. And of course, because it’s the Coen Brothers you know, you know who exactly what those guys are, it’s not a mystery.
What I always loved about Fargo is that it’s not a it’s not a whodunnit or a mystery. I found myself with the image of the woman lingering because, you know, there’s a sort of epic kidnapping sequence and then
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