Martin Scorsese: Master of the Remake
Saturday, July 25, 2020 at 8:29PM 
As a general rule, remakes don't represent a particularly respected type of film among cinephiles. Concerns about lack of originality abound, as do questions of necessity and the way remakes can lead to the obscuration of older movies. That being said, to characterize every remake as a mercenary minded waste of time isn't fair to the filmmakers involved. Moreover, it can result in the unfair dismissal of interesting cinematic propositions. Remakes can recontextualize past narratives, respond to aesthetics of yore and comment upon them, reinterpret texts and revitalize forgotten styles, deepen pre-established themes or even make us look at a classic through new eyes. They can also highlight the specificities of different artists' visions, exposing how their particularities shape the same raw material. Not all remakes are good, but we can say that about every kind of film project.
Some directors have shown a particular aptitude for this type of project, like Luca Guadagnino with A Bigger Splash and Suspiria. Still, we're not here to talk about that epicurean delight or the transfiguration of Dario Argento's post-Giallo masterpiece. Our subject, today, shall be Martin Scorsese and his mastery of the remake…
1962's Cape Fear, directed by J. Lee Thompson, is a classic of neo-noir cinema, playing with notions of psychological warfare, paranoia, and a sense of domestic bliss rudely violated by a ghost from the past. Robert Mitchum embodied that early movie's haunting villain, delivering one of his greatest star turns as a demented rapist hellbent on revenge after getting out of prison, while Gregory Peck was the lawyer whose family is targeted by the criminal. Tightly paced and strikingly scored, the movie's good reputation and lasting influence are amply justified, though some of its morality is a bit too neat, its suspense too mechanically perfect. There are no grey zones in the first Cape Fear, no risky form, no murky waters for the audience to thread to as it experiences Candy's malevolence. It's great, but in a controlled manner that leaves little space for genuine surprise or shock.
1991's Cape Fear, directed by Martin Scorsese, is a different beast altogether. While both movies are putatively adapted from John D. MacDonald's novel The Executioners, the later project owes a lot to its predecessor, even recasting some of its main actors in showy cameos. In some ways, Scorsese's reimagining feels like a response to the original, a challenge almost. It's a savage response, in any case, one with sharp teeth and someone else's blood on its mouth. Instead of precise thriller mechanics, the younger Cape Fear is a lurid spectacle, as wild and savage as its slippery villain, now played by Robert DeNiro at his most unhinged. That's not a dig at the actor, by the way, since it's only right that he goes to extremes when his director is so gloriously off the deep-end, drunk with a cinephile's love and a mad genius' self-assurance.
Scorsese throws everything at the wall with his direction of Cape Fear. We get the sense that he's not even seeing if something sticks, he's just having fun and asking us to join in. Even so, part of his mastery comes from the knowledge of when to stop, when to back down, and put an end to his formalistic folly. Consider the twelve-minute pas de deux of sexual precociousness and predatory manipulation that is the first scene shared between De Niro and Juliette Lewis as the lawyer's teenage daughter (now a character instead of an anonymous archetype). You can cut the tension with a knife, and it's not just because of the actors. It's thanks to the stillness of the camera and the editing, the movie holding its breath, waiting for some horrible thing to happen. Faced with such breathless contention, the audience has no choice but to become restless.
The second Cape Fear is the perfect example of a good remake. It's not only a riveting piece of cinema, but it also illuminates some of the original's best qualities by showing another, different but equally valid, approach. Scorsese did a similar thing in 2006 when he remade the Hong Kong crime thriller Infernal Affairs as the Oscar champion The Departed. That movie takes an already complicated plot and makes it into a byzantine labyrinth, decentering the original protagonists and adding twists and turns. At the level of direction, what's most impressive is how Scorsese weaponizes the audience's disorientation and allegiance to the players, making for an experience that's more visceral than the original even as it is less character-based. Again, two approaches, both valid but beautifully unalike.
1991's Cape Fear is streaming on fuboTV, DirecTV, and Showtime. As for The Departed, you can find it on fuboTV and HBO Max. Are you a fan of these Scorsese-helmed remakes?
Reader Comments (20)
Arguably the queerest Scorsese picture ever. His camera lingers on an animal print bikini De Niro. Lange's performance and presence is also queer bait.
/3rtful -- Scorsese's camera is always peering over DeNiro's body like an avid lover. It gazes at him, licking every inch of bare skin, forcing us to be seduced by the monster as well as repulsed by him. I hadn't considered potential queer readings of the film, but it's certainly a sensual picture, brimming with pent-up desire and complicated attractions. Scorsese at his horniest.
I found this remake pretty empty. It resorts to cheap gore at the end and wastes the talents of some fine actors.
Hell yeah! I should note that Silence is also a remake, of sorts, as there was a version of that story made by a Japanese filmmaker back in the 60s/70s.
thevoid99 -- I wrote about the two SILENCEs, Scorsese's and Shinoda's, on another post a while ago. In that case, I don't really consider the film to be a remake, just a very different interpretation of the same novel. Same thing with THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, which had been previously adapted for the screen.
CAPE FEAR is also a novel adaptation, but it clearly takes more inspiration from the previous movie. It even uses the same musical theme, same actors, shot compositions and everything, remixing them in new ways.
In any case, those films, along with THE DEPARTED, are great. if you consider them remakes, it's just more reason to celebrate Scorsese's mastery of them.
Thanks for the feedback.
Never liked this iteration of Cape Fear. I found it frankly over-the-top and obnoxious.
We just watched Cape Fear as a COVID viewing party. It's an expertly crafted thriller. Its climax is one of the best scenes I can think of in a Scorsese picture. De Niro is fantastic in the role, but it's Juliette Lewis who I think does the best work in the film. She is asked to present so many layers in her character. And I love Illeana Douglas. Watching her makes me want to see To Die For, one of Ms. Nicole's best films ever.
Were not for the producers of Married With Children vetoing Christina Applegate from booking Cape Fear her career trajectory and Lewis' would be very different. I also, love what she did in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead.
Some years ago I read in a movie magazine that the word 'remake' is to refer a new version of a film that has been done specific and directly for screen but when a film is made based on a previous material is called 'adaptation'. No matter how many versions were made inspired in an specific material, all of them are considered just an adaptation.
I find this distinction very interesting and useful but I haven't find a material that supports this theory.
I'd like to read your comments about it.
César Gaytán -- That definition makes sense but feels too limiting as well.
I think a film can be both a remake and an adaptation. CAPE FEAR is adapted from a novel, but it also draws a lot from the previous film version of that same text. In the credits, you'll even find a mention of the 1962's movie screenwriter and composer.
The most extreme example of this would be Gus Van Sant's PSYCHO, of course. Yes, technically it's derived from the Robert Bloch novel, but it's also a remake of Hitchcock's classic movie - a shot for shot remake, as it happens. Also, the Disney live-action remakes are derived from folklore, tales, and other textual material that predates the animated versions. However, they're using the old movies, not the tale's origins, as their starting point - this is noticeable both in structure and in form. I guess you could argue that 2015's CINDERELLA is more an adaptation of Perrault's tale than a strict remake, but I'd still count it as one.
Thanks for the feedback and the interesting comment.
DeNiro gives a fun campy performance but this is a glorified B movie.
Love The Departed, hate Cape Fear
I think that Scorsese's Cape Fear is fun but also quite nasty. But: I think that Nick Nolte is excellent in it. If he hadn't been nominated for The Prince of Tides, a nomination for him in this would have been equally deserved.
It's a good remake but the original is better- the climax in which Deniro turns into Jason is a bit over the top
Olivia de Havilland has passed away at 104
https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwtv/article/Oscar-Winning-Actress-Olivia-De-Havilland-Dies-at-Age-104-20200726
"At the level of direction, what's most impressive is how Scorsese weaponizes the audience's disorientation and allegiance to the players, making for an experience that's more visceral than the original even as it is less character-based."
Unfortunately, I agree with this statement, but not in a positive way. I personally didn't think that "The Departed" needed all of that added nuttiness to work, and I'd take character over visceral any day.
By the way, I haven't seen either version of "Cape Fear", which is the central focus of this article; sorry about that!
I am not a big fan of either Cape Fear or The Departed. Good movies, for sure. But I rather have The Wolf of Wall Street or The Aviator, any day, over those remaes... I am still bugged that he got his much deserved Oscar for a remake.
To Claudio Alves
Since Olivia de Havilland has passed away, an analysis of her unforgettable performance in "The Heiress" by you is very much needed.
DI -- I'm going to write something about de Havilland, though not about her brilliant work in THE HEIRESS. I hope you like it, even so.
Juliette steals this from her higher profile co stars with ease,one of the best in the Supporting Actress category.