CAPE FEAR (1991)

Directed by: Martin Scorcese
Written by: Wesley Strick
Studio: Universal Pictures
Starring: Nick Nolte, Robert DeNiro, Juliette Lewis
Rated: R

About the film:
Max Cady, a convicted rapist has been released from prison after serving a fourteen year sentence. He immediately begins stalking the family of Sam Bowden, the public defender who, he believes, mishandled his case. His purpose is to teach this small town lawyer about loss.

Movie Quote:
“If you hang onto the past, you die a little each day.”
Danielle (Juliette Lewis) in Cape Fear (1991)

Bible Quote:
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV)


Commentary:
The young teenage daughter of the terrorized lawyer speaks the truth. Life, as the poets have long said, moves inexorably forward. Keeping one foot firmly planted in the place where we have already been is a sure way not to get to the place where we want to go. It is impossible to strain forward to what lies ahead if we are forever longing for that which lies behind us. We would be pulling ourselves in two opposite directions.

Our past is important. It has helped to shape us to be the men and women we now are. But our past cannot be dragged to the present. It must remain where it is if we are ever to build a future worth having. Those who live in the past have, in effect, stopped living. Life is linear, a time line upon which we all must continue to travel.

Ironically, the past in which we would most likely prefer to stay will prove to be those times when we were probably the most effective at living in the present. It is then that life is the richest. That’s a lesson worth knowing. We should learn from the past. We must live in the present. Only then can we work toward the future with hope and expectation in our hearts.

Questions to consider while watching the film:
1. Did Sam Bowden act ethically in defending Max Cady? What would you have done in his place?
2. What methods does Cady use to terrorize the Bowden family? In what ways do they remind you of how the devil operates in this world?

Michael Elliott
http://screensermon.blogspot.com