Cape Fear Analysis

The title sequence to Cape fear is iconic, this is because you know before any scenes are shown that the genre of the film is a Thriller. This is depicted by the sinister music, the dark colours of red and black, and the faces and animals chosen create fear and suspense.
The scene opens with the reflection in a lake of and eagle, and eagle is a bird of prey which give the impression of fear and the idea that the film will involve a hunt or chase. along side with the intensive music creating suspense illustrates this.

The film title font is distorted and uneven, this alos give the impression of a Thriller. It also represents the main characters factured and distorted personality, already giving the character a harsh and feared edge before any shot of it. However the water behind the font is forboding which suggests an unkown and mysterious feel.

The lake then turns instatly dark red, this suggests danger and the obvious blood, this can be interpreted as a murder or violence in the film.

The non- diegetic soundtrack then stops as a young girl starts a direct monologue, the way in which the music stops and is no longer intense shows that her dialogue has importance in the film. Her costume is white blouse buttoned up which depicts purity and innocence and suggests that she is a virgin, giving the impression that she may be the victim.

The next shot is a man in a prison which many tattoos on his back and many books and posters of famous dictators like Stalin and Mussolini. This instantly gives the impression that he is the main character and the antagonistic in the film. There are also many books on law giving the sense that whilst in prison he has not wasted his time, and also that he is training for something when he is released. The tattoo of a cross and scales represents Christianity and the 'scales of justice'. This could suggest a man that is religious and also believes in sayings like 'An eye for and eye, a tooth for a tooth'. This shows he is a resourceful and revengeful person.

The next scene shows a man being let out of prison, usually when a person is released there is a lot of noise whereas here there was silence this shows the man importance and how he is also feared. Also the way in which he is walking in front of the Prison warden shows his importance and his dominance in the jail.

Finally there is a long shot of the man walking out of the prison. Behind him there is a storm brewing this shows pathetic fallacy and represents that he is the storm brewing and will cause damage to the village he is returning to. It also suggests he is relentless and an unstoppable force and how no one will stop the man, amplification his importance and dominance.