The movie Fargo is one of the most perfect pieces of filmmaking ever made. It's one of those movies that just feels so lyrical and real. You're steeped in this place on earth and trying to understand all the intricacies while also peeling back the layers and rooting for different aspects of the story. But there's one part of the movie that everyone talks about afterward -- Mike Yanagita. Why is he in the movie? And what's the point of his scenes? The older I get, the more certain I am that I understand Mike Yanagita, and today, I want to go over the point of his with all of you. In searching for my own understanding of this scene, I came across this excellent video essay from I Got Touched at the Cinema, which breaks down this famously weird detour.I thought it was great, so I'm going to use it to illustrate my points here. - YouTube www.youtube.com The Mike Yanagita SceneFor those who need a reminder on the movie, Marge is a police officer who is in the middle of a triple-homicide investigation. She drives to Minneapolis and meets up with an old high school classmate, Mike Yanagita, who saw her name in the papers and reached out.They go out for drinks, and it's really weird. Mike flirts with the pregnant Marge, then goes kind of nuts and cries and overshares that his wife—another old classmate, Linda—died of leukemia, and he's just so lonely.This scene has nothing to...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Yesterday