Thursday, December 5, 1991
Psychotic plot twists throughout
The long awaited Cape Fear compares to Silence of The Lambs
b Flo
d J. Csir
The Collegian
"Here's the smell of the blood
still: all the perfumes of Arabia
will not sweeten this little hand.
How she rubs her hands ...."
-Macbeth, v. i
In Shakespeare's classic
tragedy, Lady Macbeth becomes
so obsessed with the blood
flowing from Macbeth's murders
that she rubs her hands
continuously, trying to wash her
guilty conscience. So does one of
the characters in Martin
Scorsese's re-make of Cape Fear,
a 1962 movie which originally
starred Gregory Peck and Robert
Mitchum.
Robert DeNiro plays Max
Kady, a convicted rapist who is
released after spending 14 years in
jail.
The first shots of DeNiro are
of his back while doing arm
push-ups: a large cross tattoo
with two scales dangling from
the crossbeam. Underneath the
scales the words "Truth" and
"Justice" are scrolled.
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Then Kady turns around and
we see more of his well-formed
physique and more tattoos:
lightening bolts on both sides of
his abdomen. Apocalyptic quotes
from the Old Testament cover the
"Scene after scene, Kady attempts to dig underneath Bowden's
skin in perfectly legal intimidation ... It's similar to What
About Bob, but in this version everyone goes to hell."
inside of both arms. A broken
heart with the name "Loretta"
over his right breast. He is a man
with a vision and a mission.
Why is Kady so obsessed?
Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte),
Kady's defense lawyer, concealed
a report about the alleged rape
victim's promiscuity. And now
Kady is back for revenge, or as he
puts it, "I'm your salvation." But
it is the same kind of salvation
seen in the crusades and in the
Spanish Inquisition.
The plot thickens when Kady
confronts Bowden about his
unethical defense tactics. Jessica
Lange plays Leigh Bowden,
Sam's wife. She too is drawn
The Collegian
into the verbal sparring with
Kady after the couple see him
snooping around the house. Kady
is labeled as "white trash," and
"a pervert," for the benefit of
their 15-year-old teenage
daughter, Danny (Juliette Lewis).
Scene after scene, Kady
attempts to dig underneath
Bowden's skin in perfectly legal
intimidation. But Bowden's
emotional reactions get him into
trouble with half-baked legal
maneuvers, and when those fail,
he resorts to violence. It's similar
to What About Bob, but in this
version everyone goes to hell.
Obvious comparisons and
contrasts could be made between
Cape Fear and Silence of the
Lambs. Both are contemporary
thrillers about shocking murders,
with plenty of blood and gore,
and psychological plot twists
meant to scare us even after both
movies arc over
In Cape Fear, we aren't
completely sure about who is at
fault for all of the violence. Sam
Bowden gradually starts to lose
control of his mind and his
ethics, proving to be a flawed
protagonist. But aren't lawyers
accused of not doing what's right
(brought on by defending
hardened criminals)?
And here's Bowden, putting
Kady in jail because he looked
guilty 14 years ago. Just what are
we asking our legal system to do
for us? There are no clear answers
to this question.
Putting legal questions aside,
Scorsese slowly incorporates a
struggle between innocence and
corruption, played out in a
pivotal scene with young Danny
and her budding sexuality and
Kady and his manipulative
honesty.
Page
There is more to this film
than just simple revenge, if
you're willing to listen to the
script, re-written for a 90's
audience.
DeNiro has to be one of best
actors alive today and his
performance in Cape Fear
reinforces that opinion. His
Southern drawl and "I've done
nothin' to hurt you," attitude,
leaves the audience with queasy
stomachs
Nolte, Lange and Lewis
slowly transform into the
dysfunctional family, and each
one performs realistically and
with emotion. The musical score
is even effective, pumping up the
tension a few notches.
Just as Kady says
prophetically, "You can't run
away from your demons," don't
run away from this psychological
thriller. It's guaranteed to keep
you up at night.