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Originally Posted by !@#$%!
the man is an artist not a stereotype and yeah the movie ends up heavily underrated—forgotten, even, under the shadow of the mafioso movies.
for one thing the cinematography is fucking spectacular. sure this is not an epic like goodfellas with tracking shots all over new york but the lighting and lens and shot choices and angles fit the claustrophobia and paranoia. glorious editing.
it’s an extremely intense movie and very hard for me to watch. i can watch joe pesci shooting some innocent kid no problem, but the thing with the clerk is just... way to open the fucking movie man. sheesh. marty really knows how to disturb.
then the performances, holy shit. that. wow.
deniro as max cady blows deniro as travis bickle out of the water. sure, bickle is more iconic, but performance wise, jeezus fucking christ, a virtuoso in his prime.
nick nolte apparently had to lose a ton of weight for the role and is just so good in it. i think generally he’s a very underrated actor and very good. he can be like a bully who carries a lot of pain. did you ever see him in “affliction”? or that other once with barbara streisand... prince of tides or something... it’s a bad movie based on a good book, but his performance is great in it.
jessica lange, i mean, she’s such a woman, but besides that, she’s such a tremendous actress, her ability to display emotion flickering under the surface is extraordinary. here or the postman rings twice or anywhere basically. i’m still looking for one she did with tommy lee jones in the 90s that i missed... BLUE SKY. but here, in the fight scenes with her husband, when she challenges and taunts him and mocks him... and later later with cady when she tries protect her daughter... she’s just fucking incredible.
and little juliette lewis at the start of her 90s fame was also brilliant. one moment acting like an idiotic 10 year old (“is she supposed to be 16?” you wonder) and then she’s exploding as this sharp tongued raging adult. works to a great effect. like a kitten that suddenly scratches your eyes out and bites your jugular.
plus the cameos of robert mitchum and gregory peck, hahahaha! wow.
anyway i think it’s a flawless piece. it’s not a symphony, it’s not opera—it’s insane gut wrenching chamber music, and deniro in the violin is just fucking maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. mad!
seriously deserving of a rewatch. for me really now one of his top ones in terms of intensity and performances and everything really. wow!
camera & light: flawless
editing: flawless
screenplay: tight
performances: supremo
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I feel much the same way about The Colo(u)r of Money. It's a sequel, very low key, with a cast that no one would ever associate with Scorsese, and yet I still rank it right up there with his very best work. which would also include the equally un-Scorsese-like Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
As an aside on Cape Fear, did you pick up on Scorsese's regular little nods to The Creature From the Black Lagoon?