Why did the Coen brothers lie about this being based on a true story? - Fargo (1996) Discussion

[–] TxMike 8 years ago

Because it is "the Coen Brothers." It is part of their M.O. Theirs is not the first fictional movie that has done that. Didn't you find the movie more intriguing when you thought it really was based on real events?

Reminds me of something I heard a long time ago, something like "If you want people to take a quote seriously add that Ben Franklin first said it."

As Ben Franklin said in 1776, "I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man."

Thing is Alexander Hamilton said that.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

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[–] bhoover247 8 years ago

All this time I thought Bad Finger came up with this in the song "Perfection". I guess Hamilton came along before Pete Ham.

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[–] DevelopmentHell92 8 years ago

"Didn't you find the movie more intriguing when you thought it really was based on real events?"

Perhaps, but it's just dishonest. It'd still be a fantastic movie if they were just genuine about it only being based off of a screenplay and nothing more. But that's just my point of view. Anyways, thanks for your 2 cents.

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[–] TxMike 8 years ago

There is a very popular movie from 1977 that begins with "In a galaxy far, far away..."

I wonder if viewers really thought all that took place in a far-off galaxy? Maybe there should have been a "just kidding" disclaimer in 'Star Wars.' 

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

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[–] PatrickS77 8 years ago

"Because it is "the Coen Brothers." It is part of their M.O. Theirs is not the first fictional movie that has done that. Didn't you find the movie more intriguing when you thought it really was based on real events? "

Nah. Not really. Quite the opposite. It's a bit sickening, when a real life story with casualities is turned into a comedy.

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[–] wdement 8 years ago

Because it is based in a true story, just very loosely based on one. The coen's were watching the news one day and a 30 second piece on a woman in Some northwestern state putting her husband through a wood chipper came on and they decided to make a movie set in Minnesota where someone gets put in a woodchipper.

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[–] RobbieCalifornia 7 years ago

I wouldn't call it a "lie." The tv shows say the same thing. It's fictitious.

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[–] Bargle77 7 years ago

The coen's were watching the news one day and a 30 second piece on a woman in Some northwestern state putting her husband through a wood chipper came on and they decided to make a movie set in Minnesota where someone gets put in a woodchipper.

You've got it backwards. It was the husband who put his wife through a woodchipper. Here's the Wikipedia page about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Helle_Crafts

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It's all like some bad movie.

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[–] kaneforgov 7 years ago

The Coen brothers did it in order to give you something to whine about. It worked.

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[–] dawnantonis 7 years ago

The same reason they did it with The Blair Witch Project... people are intrigued, they go see the film... Make money... and then people go out and dig in the snow for imaginary treasure...

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[–] kaneforgov 7 years ago

...and then people go out and dig in the snow for imaginary treasure...

Which actually happened after this film came out. I think the Coen's ending up making a statement about there being no cash buried in the snow.

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[–] mptxyz 7 years ago

That annoyed me for a bit - but I soon got over it.

It was obvious before the end of the film that they were not describing exactly what happened: there were no survivors from the scene where the money was handed over. In several other scenes the only surviving witness was a psychopath.

I can't be bothered with a signature 

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[–] da3ley (228) 6 years ago

Its based on Elle Crafts. She really did get thrown in a wood chipper after her husband strangled her back in 1986. But apparently the Coen brothers are too stupid too realize this as this whole movie had nothing to do with her murder or even simply slightly portraying it.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Because they are greedy, unethical liars.

Still love this film, but agree no need for this kind of skulduggery.

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

"True Story", as Humphrey Appleby might iterate, is not necessarily 'something that actually happened'.

It can just be true, that it is a story. It is truly a story, therefore, it's a 'true story', not a 'fake story', even if it's the contents of the story itself are fictional.

It's like 'a true book', meaning, it is an actual, real book, instead of just an object that looks like a book, but isn't, etc.

The same way, the story can be 'true', without having anything to do with 'things having actually happened'.

Having said that, I hate lying, and I hate when people do that kind of stuff, especially as a gimmick - what's the point of claiming the events happened, if they really didn't happen? To make your story feel somehow more valuable? Can't it rely on its own merits instead of using a gimmick to make it seem better than it is?

Lying is wrong.

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[–] jasonbourne (1027) 5 years ago

I hope the Coen Brothers die and go to hell for eternity. Actually, I didn't find out about it until after paying to see the movie in theaters. Still enjoyed the movie, gave it a good rating on IMDB and didn't ask for my money back. It's their best movie with No Country for Old Men and The Big Lebowski, but I haven't seen all of them. I paid for the latter, too.

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[–] Jones70 (6195) 4 years ago

Hopefully they don't die for at least another 15 years.

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