Fargois a 1996 American dark comedy - crime film produced, directed and written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen . It stars Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief who investigates a series of homicides, William H. Macy as a car salesman who hires two criminals to kidnap his wife, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare as the criminals, and Harve Presnell as the salesman's father-in-law.

The film earned seven Academy Award nominations, winning two for Best Original Screenplay for the Coens and Best Actress in a Leading Role for McDormand.It also won the BAFTA Award and the Award for Best Director for Joel Coen at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival .

In 2006 it was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and inducted into the United States National Film Registry . It is currently the most recently made feature length film in the Registry.

In 1987, Minneapolis automobile salesman Jerry Lundegaard (Macy) is in severe financial trouble. After being introduced to criminals Carl Showalter (Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Stormare) by Native American ex-convict Shep Proudfoot (Steve Reevis), a mechanic at his dealership, Jerry travels to Fargo, North Dakota , and hires the two men to kidnap his wife Jean (Kristin Rudrüd) in exchange for a new car and half of the $80,000 ransom . However, Jerry intends to demand a much larger sum from his wealthy but tight-fisted and antagonistic father-in-law, Wade Gustafson (Presnell), and keep most of the money for himself.

Meanwhile, GMAC has been threatening to withdraw loans against cars at the auto dealership Jerry manages after accounting irregularities. Jerry has been trying to raise money by promoting a real estate deal to Wade. Jerry tries to call off the kidnapping after Wade agrees to the investment, but he is too late, and, as it turns out, Wade intends to buy the property himself, leaving Jerry with only a finder's fee , which is not enough to pay off his debts.

Meanwhile, Carl and Gaear kidnap Jean, but on their way through Brainerd , a state trooper stops them because of the car's license plates . When Carl's attempt to bribe the trooper fails, Gaear shoots and kills the trooper. Carl attempts to clear the trooper's body off the road, but is seen by a teenage couple passing by in their car. Without hesitation, Gaear begins to chase the couple when suddenly the couple's car swerves off the road, enabling Gaear to kill them both.

The deaths are investigated the next morning by local police chief Marge Gunderson (McDormand), who is seven months pregnant. She quickly deduces the chain of events and follows the leads that arise, interviewing two prostitutes who serviced the criminals and tracing the license plates on the criminals' vehicle to Jerry's dealership. After being informed that the criminals telephoned Shep Proudfoot, she drives to Minneapolis, but she acquires no information in interviews with Shep and Jerry.

Meanwhile, Jerry contacts Wade, claiming that the kidnappers insist on dealing only with Jerry. Wade accepts this arrangement at first, but later changes his mind. When he meets with Carl at a parking garage, he refuses to give him the ransom money until his daughter is returned. Angered by his demands and unexpected appearance, Carl starts a shootout and kills Wade. Before he dies, Wade shoots Carl in the side of the face, disfiguring him. Carl then kills the garage attendant on his way out. Jerry arrives at the scene after Carl leaves, and opens the trunk of his car , presumably to take Wade's body. On his way to the backwoods hideout on Moose Lake , Carl discovers that the bag he took from Wade contains a million dollars and buries most of the money by the side of the highway. At the hideout, Gaear has killed Jean, and, in a dispute over the car, he kills Carl with an axe .

Before leaving town, Marge questions Jerry again, asking him about the car used in the Brainerd murders. He provides no information, but when she changes tack by asking to talk to Wade, Jerry storms out of the office, saying he will check the lot right then for the missing car but fleeing the dealership instead. Marge phones the state police to find and arrest him, then, following up on a tip, she drives to the lake, sees the kidnappers' car, and arrives at the hideout just in time to see Gaear feeding the last of Carl's body into a wood chipper . Gaear tries to flee, but Marge shoots him in the leg and arrests him.

Jerry is later arrested in a motel outside of Bismarck, North Dakota . In the final scene, Marge and her husband, Norm ( John Carroll Lynch ), sit in bed together discussing his artwork, which has been selected as the design for a postage stamp .