Cape fear title sequence analysis

 By Ruairi Pammen

 Cape Fear analysis

The film begins with a wide-angle shot of the lake using naturalistic sunlight to reflect of off the water highlighting the rippling effect; this foreshadows the disturbance of peace in the narrative. At the same time a trumpet plays acting as a sound sting further suggesting my previous theory that the on-screen action is all pointing towards a ripple in an other-wise tranquil environment. After this there is a transition to the image of an eagle which is superimposed upon the water, as it glides across Robert De Niro’s credits come up aligned to the left of the screen, subtly suggesting to the audience that he is in-fact the predator, as the eagle is a symbolic representation of a bird of prey.

The positioning of the actors names on-screen is important as De Niro is situated on the left, Nick Nalte drifts into a more central position, with Jessica Lange to the right, portraying Nick as the protagonist protecting Jessica from De Niro by intercepting him. The non-diegetic soundtrack begins to build up in pace, intensity and lowers in pitch all suggesting the future will be futile and darkness will overcome the desolate victims. The soundtrack is traditional and rather generic of the thriller genre, with its sole intention to provoke feelings of unease and uncertainness in the audience.  As it pans across the water the audience is shown an extreme close up of the victim’s eye portraying fear (through her non-diegetic facial expressions). After this there is another extreme close up of teeth, by isolating certain body-parts the director Matin Scorsese can incite feelings of discomfort because the body-parts are un-known who they actually belong to.

The close up immediately after this is of Robert de Niro under high-key lighting harshly emphasising the shadows under his eyes making him look demonic, disguising his identity and his emotions (perhaps because he’s emotionless). As his head leans back the darkness completely consumes him hiding his entire face from view. This adds to the anxiety the audience would be feeling because he could re-appear at any time. The colour transitions from green representing jealousy and envy, to red which represents blood, violence and death suggesting the antagonist has acted upon the overwhelming feeling of resentment and subsequently murdering the persons he desires to be.