Sir, - In spite of the favourable review by your film critic, after my husband and I saw Fargo we wondered how an Irish audience (the matinee's was sparse) would react to it. The letter from Ellen MacCafferty (June 18th) gives us our answer.
We are Americans, and we have spent time in Minnesota, thus we can relate to the ethnic humour, the development of the characters "and their accents; while bits of the film may be attributed to artistic privilege (the very pregnant sheriff, for instance), Fargo is a true Minnesota story.
Mrs MacCafferty's point that "the mindless, uncritical use of violence in this film is for box office appeal, i.e. profits only", and her criticism, "Any explanation of its content as an attempt at depicting reality (my italics) or art is therefore misguided. As your critic made perfectly clear in his review, the film opens with the statement that the story is true, and it ends with the prison sentence handed down by the court. All films are made with profit in mind, but the violence in this one, unfortunately, is not gratuitous, it is what happened.
Although we are fans, we agree with your critic that Coen brothers' films are not to everyone's taste. Movie going these days can be a hazardous pastime: simple souls looking for a simple night out must read reviews carefully. They must beware. - Yours, etc.,
Scilly,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.