1991, 'Cape Fear' is a psychological thriller is about Sam Bowden played by Nick Nolte whom knowingly withholds evidence that would prove violent sex offender Max Cady's (played by Robert De Niro) innocence dropping all rape charges. Max spends 14 years behind bars. however disruption of equilibrium occurs when Max is released, and he devotes his life to stalking and destroying the Bowden family. Sam realises he must act outside the law to protect his wife and daughter after practical attempts fail to stop Max. 'Cape Fear' is a Martin Scorsese's remake of the classic 1962 'Cape Fear' thriller.
The typography off the filming opening is slanted and slightly mirror, connoting an uneasiness and rushed sense. This can be signified as an insight to the narrative as being fast paced and uneasiness throughout, denoted from the early sight of the connotations in the title sequence relating back to the thriller genre. The well-known universal studios logos scene is the very first thing seen, signifying it as iconography for the movie to following being high budgeted. As universal studios is a well-known company, it's connoted that the target audience will be board worldwide. As the production logo ends it fades into the next scene, connoting a direct link between the two. This connotes that the movie is in close relationship to the company, therefore the demographic know what to expect before watching a trailer or the film.
The lighting conforms Todorov's theory of narrative. As the first scene is denoted as a water reflection of the sunset, the warm colours connoted as the equilibrium. However low key lighting takes places, signifying the disequilibrium. This conforms to the thriller genre as having a larger portion of disequilibrium against equilibrium is a convention.
A vase majority of the shots are patterns in water, a reflection caused by water twists the original image, this signifies the narrative, as it connotes a twisted perceptive in someone's eyes. The shots directly after this are of negative filtered eyes, conforming the ideology of the water signifying someones twisted mind. By having the eyes filtered in two different colours in two different shots, connote two sides of that person. For example, the first shot is filtered in white and black, connoting innocence and pure. However a sense of weariness is still presence signifying the person is hiding their demons. Whereas the next is filtered in red and black, connoting her/his 'bad' side with the red as iconography of blood.
The narrative is very restricted in the film opening, as a large amount of screen time is taken up by the reflections.The opening sequence is made up of both non-diegetic and diegetic soundtracks. The diegetic sound of the water, signifies a sense of calmness and equilibrium. Which is rapidly ended by the harsh long non-diegetic soundtrack which is contrapuntal, connoting a weariness and even signifying a foreshadow of an bad event. The diegetic sound of the girl speaking to the camera is very powerful and direct (which is parallel to the image) gives signified ideology that the narrative holds a counter hegemonic reading where the girl is a given power as a strong protagonist.
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