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Primal Fear is a 1996 American legal thriller film directed by Gregory Hoblit, based on William Diehl's 1993 novel of the same name, and written by Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman. It stars Richard Gere, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand and Edward Norton in his film debut. The film revolves around a Chicago defense attorney who believes that his altar boy client is not guilty of murdering an influential Catholic archbishop.

Primal Fear
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Gregory Hoblit
Screenplay by	Steve Shagan Ann Biderman
Based on	Primal Fear by William Diehl
Produced by	Gary Lucchesi Howard W. Koch, Jr.
Starring	Richard Gere Laura Linney John Mahoney Alfre Woodard Frances McDormand Edward Norton
Cinematography	Michael Chapman
Edited by	David Rosenbloom
Music by	James Newton Howard
Production company	Rysher Entertainment
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date	April 3, 1996 (1996-04-03)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$30 million
Box office	$102.6 million[1]

The film was a box office success and received positive reviews, with Norton's breakthrough performance earning critical praise. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture.[2]

Plot

Martin Vail is a Chicago defense attorney who loves the spotlight, known for winning acquittals for high-profile clients on legal technicalities. He meets former lover and prosecutor Janet Venable at a charity event, but she rejects his advances.

Archbishop Rushman, a beloved figure and head of Chicago's Catholic diocese, is brutally murdered in his private quarters. The police chase and apprehend 19-year-old Aaron Stampler, who is covered in blood and had fled the crime scene. Vail meets with him in jail and offers to defend him pro bono. Aaron reveals that he is an altar boy from Kentucky who loved and admired the archbishop. Vail comes to believe that Aaron, meek and with a severe stutter, is innocent. Venable is assigned to prosecute him for capital murder.

As the trial begins, Vail discovers that powerful civic leaders, including the corrupt state's attorney, John Shaughnessy, recently lost millions in real-estate investments because of Rushman's decision to not develop church-owned land. Following a tip from Alex, a former altar boy, about a videotape involving Aaron, Vail steals the VHS cassette from the crime scene. The tape shows the archbishop forcing Aaron, his girlfriend Linda and another altar boy to engage in sexual acts.

When Vail confronts Aaron and accuses him of having lied, he breaks down crying and suddenly transforms into a new persona, Roy, a violent sociopath without a stutter. The Roy persona confesses to the archbishop's murder and becomes physically violent with Vail. He then reverts to Aaron, once again passive and shy and with no recollection of the personality switch.

Molly Arrington, the neuropsychologist examining Aaron, is convinced that he has dissociative identity disorder caused by years of physical and sexual abuse at the hands of his father and Rushman. Vail is troubled by this information because he cannot enter an insanity plea during an ongoing trial. Vail must now decide whether to introduce this evidence that might elicit sympathy from the jury for Aaron but could also provide the motive that Venable has been unable to establish. He has the videotape anonymously delivered to the prosecution, knowing that she will realize who had sent it, as she is under intense pressure to deliver a guilty verdict and will use the tape as proof of motive.

In the trial, Vail calls Aaron to the witness stand and questions him about the sexual abuse that he suffered at Rushman's hands. He also introduces evidence that Shaughnessy had covered up evidence that Rushman had molested another young man. Venable's harsh questioning during cross-examination, transforms Aaron into Roy and he attacks her, threatening to snap her neck before he is subdued and returned to his holding cell.

The judge informs Vail and Venable that she intends to dismiss the jury in favor of a bench trial and will declare Aaron not guilty by reason of insanity, remanding him to a psychiatric hospital. Venable is fired for losing the case and for allowing Rushman’s crimes to be publicly exposed, but it is implied that she will resume her relationship with Vail.

Vail visits Aaron in his cell to inform him of the dismissal. Aaron claims to have no recollection of Roy's violent reaction in the courtroom, but as Vail is leaving, he slips by telling Vail to "tell Miss Venable I hope her neck is okay."

When Vail confronts him, Aaron reveals that he had faked the personality disorder. No longer stuttering, he brags about having murdered Rushman and Linda. When Vail asks if there ever was a Roy, he replies that "there never was an Aaron." Stunned and disillusioned, Vail walks away and leaves the courthouse as Aaron taunts him from his cell.

Cast

Several Chicago television news personalities appear in cameos as themselves as they deliver reports about the case, including WLS's Diann Burns and Linda Yu, WBBM-TV's Mary Ann Childers, Lester Holt and Jon Duncanson and WGN-TV's Bob Jordan and Randy Salerno.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack includes the Portuguese fado song "Canção do Mar" sung by Dulce Pontes.

Reception

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 77% based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Primal Fear is a straightforward, yet entertaining thriller elevated by a crackerjack performance from Edward Norton."[3] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, lists the film with a weighted average score of 46/100 based on 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[4] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore awarded the film an average grade of B+ on an A+-to-F scale.[5]

Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote that the film has a "good deal of surface charm" but "the story relies on an overload of tangential subplots to keep it looking busy."[6] Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times awarded Primal Fear three and a half stars, writing that "the plot is as good as crime procedurals get, but the movie is really better than its plot because of the three-dimensional characters." Ebert described Gere's performance as one of the best in his career, praised Linney for rising above what might have been a stock character and applauded Norton for offering a "completely convincing" portrayal.[7]

The film spent three weekends at the top of the U.S. box office.[1]

Accolades

Norton's depiction of Aaron Stampler earned him multiple awards and nominations.

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
20/20 Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Edward Norton	Nominated	[8]
Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated	[9]
ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards	Top Box Office Films	James Newton Howard	Won	[8]
Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role	Edward Norton	Runner-up	[8]
	Honorable Mentions	Gregory Hoblit	Nominated
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Edward Norton	Won	[10]
British Academy Film Awards	Best Actor in a Supporting Role		Nominated	[11]
Casting Society of America	Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film Casting – Drama	Deborah Aquila and Jane Shannon-Smith	Nominated	[12]
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Edward Norton	Nominated	[13]
	Most Promising Actor		Won
Critics Choice Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated	[14]
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[15]
Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture		Won	[16]
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[17]
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[18]
MTV Movie Awards	Best Villain		Nominated	[19]
National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Supporting Actor		3rd Place	[20]
Online Film & Television Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[21]
Satellite Awards	Best DVD Extras	Primal Fear – Hard Evidence Edition	Nominated	[22]
Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Edward Norton	Nominated	[23]
Society of Texas Film Critics Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[24]
Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Won	[25]

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

• 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:
  • Aaron Stampler – Nominated Villain[26]
• 2008: AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • Nominated Courtroom Drama Film[27]

See also

• Mental illness in films
• Trial movies
• Plot twist
• Deewangee (2002), a Hindi film influenced by Primal fear.[28]

References

External links

• Primal Fear at Letterboxd
• Primal Fear at IMDb 
• Primal Fear at Metacritic
• Primal Fear at Box Office Mojo
• Primal Fear at Rotten Tomatoes
• Primal Fear at the TCM Movie Database

На других языках

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[de] Zwielicht (Film)

Zwielicht ist ein Thriller aus dem Jahr 1996 nach dem Roman Primal Fear von William Diehl aus dem Jahr 1992. Hauptdarsteller sind Richard Gere und Edward Norton.

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- [en] Primal Fear (film)

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[es] Primal Fear (película)

Primal Fear (La raíz del miedo o La verdad desnuda en Hispanoamérica y Las dos caras de la verdad en España) es una película estadounidense, dirigida por Gregory Hoblit, estrenada en 1996 y basada en la novela de William Diehl Primal Fear. El film, protagonizado por Richard Gere, Laura Linney y Edward Norton, supuso el debut cinematográfico de este último, así como el Globo de Oro al mejor actor de reparto y su candidatura al Oscar como mejor actor de reparto. Edward Norton fue elegido para la película al pasar un casting de más de 2000 personas y tras rechazar Leonardo DiCaprio el mismo papel.[1]

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[ru] Первобытный страх (фильм)

«Первобытный страх» (англ. Primal Fear) — остросюжетный фильм режиссёра Грегори Хоблита по одноимённой книге Уильяма Дила. Среди всех фильмов выпуска 1996 года фильм остался в числе 30 лидеров проката, войдя в десятку самых кассовых за первую половину киносезона (возглавляя список в течение первых трёх уик-эндов)[1]. Дебют в кино Эдварда Нортона.

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