‘Fargo’ cinematographer Dana Gonzales on the surprising inspiration for Season 5 [Exclusive Video Interview]

Emmy Award-winning “Fargo” cinematographer Dana Gonzales starts every season of the acclaimed anthology series the same way: by discussing the story and visual approach with creator Noah Hawley.

“Noah always has an idea that spawns other ideas and I do visual references and shoot tests and we kind of hone it in together,” Gonzales tells Gold Derby in an exclusive video interview as part of our Meet the Experts: Cinematographers panel. “But every season is a different story, different characters – we’re basically shooting a pilot episode every season and building new sets, new production design, new wardrobe. So we build it from the ground up and really kind of make sure everything works together. We maintain of a pretty strict code of color and structure, just so everything is uniform. We’re done that from Season 1, and it works quite well.”

For the new season, which is set in 2019 and focuses on a midwestern housewife (played by Juno Temple), the local sheriff who happens to be her abusive ex-husband (played by Jon Hamm), and a kidnapping gone wrong, Gonzales and Hawley looked to the obvious places for visual inspiration – including the Joel and Ethan Coen films “Fargo” and “No Country for Old Men” – but also elsewhere. 

“Every season is steeped in several of the Coen brothers’ films, not just ‘Fargo.’ But, if anything, it’s getting mutated a little bit more into the aesthetic that we enjoy,” Gonzales explains. “But this season, it really came down to some Renaissance paintings. And I kind of presented these Renaissance paintings in the tones and colors of Renaissance paintings. And that became our playbook. So again, structurally, we always have that Coen world. But then the Renaissance painting palette drove us in a certain direction. And then it was just putting that together photographically and curating the production design and wardrobe and art direction to meet with that structurally. I think that’s the single thing that probably informed it.”

Still, as fans know, so much of the latest season of “Fargo” feels like it’s in direct conversation with the original Oscar-winning film. Gonzales says that’s maybe not an accident, particularly since the FX series is so successful in its own right. “Making Season 1, there were always people saying, ‘Don’t do it,’” he says of referencing the original in homages. “But after so many successful seasons . This year, maybe it’s got more callbacks to the movie.”

“Fargo” episodes are streaming on Hulu.

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