Is ‘Fargo’ Really Based on a True Story?
Fargo may be in its fifth year at FX, but the anthology series from showrunner Noah Hawley continues to raise the never-ending question: Is this a true story?
At the beginning of every episode, viewers are presented with the words, “This is a true story. The following events took place in Minnesota in 2019. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.” But is it really a true story? Not technically.
The inclusion of this text has been a mainstay of the series since Year 1 when Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) and Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) graced our screens in 2014. The format is an homage to Fargo‘s inspiration, the 1996 film of the same name by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen.
(Credit: FX)
The movie starring William H. Macy and Frances McDormand (among others) has been a constant source for the show’s dark comedic tone, and especially Year 5’s storyline has borrowed from the world first introduced by the Coens. Technically, Hawley’s Fargo is set in the same universe with Easter eggs planted in past entries.
In the movie, there is a title card that reads similarly to the show’s, but on that occasion, the date stretches back to Minnesota in 1987. Depending on the year of FX’s show, the intro reads differently but it is always ultimately an homage, as these stories are works of fiction.
While there may be no real-life rogue North Dakota Sheriffs like Jon Hamm‘s Roy Tillman, that doesn’t mean that Hawley’s characters and stories aren’t any less rooted in reality. Fargo is a reflection of the world around us, so who is to say the characters aren’t partly based on elements pulled from real life?
(Credit: Gramercy/courtesy Everett Collection)
At the end of the day though, these statements about being a “true story” aren’t true. While the Coens were inspired by some real-life crime elements, like the woodchipper sequence being based on the murder of Helle Crafts, the characters and scenarios onscreen are creations of their own.
Ultimately, Fargo Year 5’s premise was born from the 1996 film as Hawley told TV Insider, “We have a sense that something is coming for [Dot (Juno Temple)], but we are in dialogue with the movie in this idea that a husband has his wife kidnapped is the premise of both.” Rather than a husband having his wife kidnapped for financial benefit though, it’s Dot’s abusive first husband who has sent kidnappers after her, believing he’s owed a debt.
“It’s like if you give two different writers the same setup, they’re going to write two different stories,” Hawley added. “In the show, it’s the wife that’s the hero, it’s her story, she’s the one being kidnapped. So it’s her story. And of course, it doesn’t go the way that it went in the movie,” he pointed out.
What do you think of the show’s homage and choice to call a fictional tale a “true story”? Let us know in the comments section, below, and catch Fargo on FX and Hulu.
Fargo, Year 5, New Episodes, Tuesdays, 10/9c, FX (Next day on Hulu)
