"Fargo" LbNA #29121

Most recent find: 4/18/09

The series

This is the first in a planned series of letterboxes in which the hides are similar to those which were essential in movies for which either the movie or the actors received Academy Awards.

Synopsis

"Fargo" can be viewed as a horror movie or as a black comedy depending on your state of mind, see. Despite the title, it mainly takes place in and was filmed in the state of Minnesota not in North Dakota there. The language in the movie is especially noteworthy in that it uses "Minnesotan", the language that out-of-staters think is spoken thoughout the state, you know. The screenplay itself makes interesting reading for that reason alone then.

Anyway, this film noir concerns a crime in which the perpetrators, a used car dealer and his two henchmen, keep digging themselves into deeper and deeper holes. The heroine is the level-headed county sheriff who saves the day.

Academy Awards

• Francis McDormand (Sheriff Marge Gunderson) won Best Actres
  
• Ethan and Joel Coen won Best Screenplay
  
• Other nominations included Best Picture, William H. Lacey (Jerry Lundegaard) for
  Best Actor, the Coen Bros. for Best Director, also Best Cinematography and Best Editing.
  

The Hide

In the most hilarious scene, at least visually, the two bungling conmen, a.k.a. Chipper and Mr. Chips, hide their ill-gotten gains in a briefcase in a place so plain and remote they would need a gps unit, which they don't have, to be able to retrieve it.

Directions

The letterbox is located on the edge of the Peat Bog Wildlife Management Area on 70th St West in NW Rice Co. To reach the WMA from I35 Exit 69 take Highway 19 west for about 3/4 mile to Benton Av. If you come to Little Chicago you've come too far. Take Benton north a half mile to 70th St. Turn east. The WMA has two entrances off of 70th: one to a parking area and another on the NW corner, marked by WMA signs, which leads to the water access. The box is located on the fenceline about halfway between the two entrances. To measure halfway you might try to count the fenceposts. (It might be off by a fencepost or two.)

Links

• 
  The screenplay
  
• 
  Geocaching listing
  (See this to find how recently it has been found!)
  

FF-Letterboxing = MLN Treasure Seekers 3/11/07

FTF-Geocaching = Seldon 3/14/07

Well, I guess that's about it then.