Film Critics Name ‘Fargo’ Best Film Courtney Love Wins For Role In ‘The People Vs. Larry Flynt’

“Fargo,” the Coen brothers’ mordantly funny film noir about absurdly escalating crime in the snowy Midwest, was voted the best film of 1996 this week by the New York Film Critics’ Circle.

On a fourth ballot, “Fargo” won over the runners-up “The People vs. Larry Flynt” and “Breaking the Waves,” although the last film received a number of other awards. The Danish film maker Lars Von Trier was voted best director for “Breaking the Waves,” his strange, haunting story of sexual passion and spiritual sacrifice.

Emily Watson was voted best actress (with Frances McDormand of “Fargo” a close second) for “Waves,” her first film performance. Robby Muller was voted best cinematographer for both his daring hand-held work in “Waves” and the black-and-white images of Jim Jarmusch’s “Dead Man.”

Geoffrey Rush was voted best actor for playing the adult David Helfgott, an Australian pianist triumphing over a traumatic childhood, in “Shine.” As best supporting actress, the group chose Courtney Love for her wild, tragicomic turn as Althea Leasure, stripper-turned-publisher, in “The People vs. Larry Flynt.”

Harry Belafonte was voted best supporting actor for his role as a charismatic, insinuating gangster in Robert Altman’s “Kansas City.” Runners-up in this category were Martin Donovan for “The Portrait of a Lady” and Tony Shaloub as the chef in “Big Night.” That film by Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott, about Italian restaurateurs trying to preserve their artistry in America, was voted the best first film.

The group gave its best screenplay award to Albert Brooks and Monica Johnson for “Mother,” a comedy about a grown man who greatly surprises his mother by going home to live with her again. Its choice for best foreign film was Jafar Panahi’s “White Balloon,” a keenly observed picture of Iranian life seen through the eyes of a clever little girl.