Directed by: Gregory Hoblit
Cast: Richard Gere [Martin Vail], Edward Norton [Aaron Stampler/Roy], Laura Linney [Laura Vinneable]
Martin Vail, a defence attorney, is used to taking up jobs for money and stature though stumbles upon a case involving a young altar boy, Aaron, accused of butchering the archbishop of Chicago. Initially wanting to only save the boy’s life from a life sentence, he delves and uncovers the dark secrets of the Church and their doings.
Based on: “Primal Fear”, written by William Diehl
My rating: 8/10
Narrative aspects
The film tells the story through the medium of a court case bringing a lot of legality to the film. It enthuses an audience with the element of suspense and curiosity, making them want to know what happens next, but moreover, the use of lawyers and the court location which the whole story revolves around, allows this film to stand out from the rest. As the pattern of usual crime films go, the involvement of a crime-fighting division like the FBI or CIA is common (like the Jason Bourne &James Bond series’ and The Silence of the Lambs), thus having the nature of what lawyers do to prepare for a case and how they succeed/fail is an effective attention-grabber.
Moreover, the linear story narrative enables the film to avoid being overly complex, which does not distract a viewer from the plot itself, a crucial point of consideration in a crime thriller. The character development is brilliant in this film as it includes no flashbacks to their pasts yet it includes implicit details that form a backstory for them, through dialogue choice, body language and even the choice of where and when do they use swearing (which this movie contains a decent amount of). To add on, the film is in his when it comes to depicting the reality of plot points, even though it is fictional, based on a novel. These include the use of the law, as stated above, the element of a psychological disorder (DID – Dissociative Identity Disorder) and cases of Church misconduct.
Infer & Deduce: The title of the film and novel suggest a heightened sense of fear for the unknown, where Martin Vail has no clue about whether his beliefs of Aaron being innocent is the whole truth, or towards the last few minutes of the film where the reality of Aaron’s character is revealed. Every character depicts some sort of fear, whether it being the loss of their job, going to jail or confronting their ‘inner demons’.
Technical Aspects
The film uses a wide range of shots and camera movements to emphasise certain emotions or indicate a particular plot point or setting, like close-ups to focus clearly on the emotions of a character and aerial shots over specific locations to perhaps signify how minor characters are in a larger world.
Editing techniques avoid distracting the audience from the main story, only consisting of cuts and fades. The use of special effect makeup is well done since it does not look as fake as it could for films made during the 90s when compared to how advanced technology and makeup skill has become now.
An interesting aspect this film used was incorporating scenes and short shots of the camera footage Aaron’s psychologist had filmed of her sessions with him. This provided a clear view and insight towards how the psychologist felt as well as makes the audience feel as though they are really part of the whole story. Furthermore, the clips were given the in-camera effects in editing which also divided it from the regular film shots.
Favourite Scene
The last seven minutes of the film is a complete turning point for the plot since a plot twist had already been established with Aaron uncovering his multiple personality side. Aaron Stampler, played by Edward Norton, is in his jail cell when Martin pays him a visit to give him the good news about his release. Upon leaving Aaron requests if Martin could apologise on his behalf about injuring Laura’s, the prosecutor, neck. This exchange follows Aaron’s claim of not being able to remember anything from the court that day and set forth the reveal of his true identity.
This scene is the most capturing for me, right after Aaron bursts into Roy who is his alter at the court, since when an audience would expect a calming resolution after the climax, the plot literally “slaps” them with another twist that was never foreseen. It is a brilliant way of keeping the film in an audience member’s mind long after the credits start rolling.
Moreover, the choice of shots in this scene (close-ups and cut-ins of the characters hands) increase the tension of the scene as do the pauses between character dialogue. When Aaron starts clapping after a lengthened moment of silence, the audience immediately knows that they and the characters in the film should not have ‘judged a book by its cover’.
What would I do differently?
Personally, though the movie was brilliantly put I would have shortened the run-time length of it because it did drag on a little at certain points. Moreover, I would have liked to see a little more of the characters backgrounds sort of play into how they react and work with the court case, perhaps shedding light to the trauma Aaron experienced as a child and why he stammers as a grown individual, which is what I would bring forward to the production of the film and storyline.
Further Research Areas:
Swearing and links to personality
Emotional Justification of shots
DID and Primal Fear – Psychology Today
Legal issues in Classic Movies
Auteur Theory 