Meaning of the title...? - Primal Fear (1996) Discussion

[–] MadchenJ 14 years ago

That is EXACTLY why I logged into imdb. I just watched it and I cannot understand why the title is "Primal Fear". Makes no sense to me whatsoever. Seems very misleading. I didn't know there was a book, but it does seem like an adaptation of a book because it seems like there was a lot left out about the land deals.

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[–] gabby_bm 14 years ago

The only thing I can think is that primal fear is what can cause an animal or human to attack with ferocity - much as Roy did. That's the only connection I see in the film version.

I don't need you to tell me how good my coffee is. .

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[–] jmls 14 years ago

Right, so I just finished reviewing the film. I watched the movie for the first time some years ago, and the title was always a mistery to me.

In portuguese, the name of the movie is "A raiz do mal", which translated to english means "The root fo evil"... So it doesn't help...

Anyway, I searched in old topics for a title explanation, and there was someone who had a theory that it had something to do with the fear of a lawyer helping to release someone guilty.

Even if I don't agree entirely with that explanation, I think the last scene of the movie is the key for the title explanation: Vail is leaving the court and he sees through the window a legion of reporters waiting for him. He then seeks the back door, and leaves the building there, victorious but ashamed.

So, the Primal Fear may have something to do with the fear he felt to face the jornalists.

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[–] tdmcculley 14 years ago

I think the title has a connection to the scene with Vail and his friend at the bar. He says that he does what he does because he chooses to believe that even good people can do bad things. However, this case has proved everything he has believed to be wrong, his primal fear about his job.

just a thought from a fan

This thing has 500 settings and 499 of them are "blow the crap out of something" mode

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[–] sarah_paralovo 12 years ago

"A Raiz do Mal" is the name in portuguese from Portugal? Because in Brazilian portuguese this movie is called "As Duas Faces de um Crime", which translates as "The Two Faces of a Crime". I guess it makes a lot more sense than "Primal Fear" of "The Root of Evil"...

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] brightfamouscucumber 12 years ago

Actually, that you say that the title in Portugues is "A raiz do mal" and not something similar to the "Miedo primal" or "Temor primal" that it could quite easily have been translated to in Spanish, indicates that audiences in locations of foreign languages are a lot less gullible and not nearly so easily convinced to see a flick whose title has so little to do with its story.

Of course, the title that it got in Spain, "Las dos caras de la verdad" is probably a wee bit too accurate, which, translated, means "The Two Faces of the Truth", might be giving too much of the story away right there in the title.

But, to name this story "Primal Fear" when the closest example of anybody's fear approaching the meaning of the word 'primal' is when the bishop gets his fingers amputated, but by then the situation is no longer one of fear, but of reality, so, even then the titular terminology doesn't even really begin to apply.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] JacksImdbAccount 13 years ago

exactly right

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[–] SeanJoyce 14 years ago

I wouldn't think too far into it; these types of titles were all the vogue in the 90s. Think Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Disturbing Behavior, etc.

"...if that was off, I'd be whoopin' your ass up and down this street." ~ an irate Tarantino

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[–] jetglass 14 years ago

As a couple other posters partially alluded to, the supreme fear in this film is Richard Gere's character having to defend a client that he knows without a doubt is guilty. You could also say at the end of the film specifically his fear is not only having this knowledge of defending a guilty client, but having to face the media about it who are all over the case and now he doesnt want any publicity since he is defending a guilty man. Ironically, he was seeking this publicity the whole time, but not the way it unfolded.

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[–] parisel 13 years ago

I don't agree with that theory at all. Defense attorneys work to get all their clients off, knowing full well that most are guilty. It's not even an issue with them. And that wouldn't be primal fear anyway..Primal fear is fear for yourself, your survival, the first fear. The most that would be is a moral issue.

No, I think it's just stringing two words together that make a catchy title. No more than that.

I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.

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[–] TheSummer2012 13 years ago

Defense attorneys work to get all their clients off, knowing full well that most are guilty. It's not even an issue with them.

A defendant is innocent until proven guilty. In a functioning justice system, everyone who is guilty of a crime will be convicted of a crime. A defense attorney is just there to ensure the rights of the defendants are respected and the state does not abuse its powers.

In practice, it doesn't quite work that way. However, defense attorneys play an integral role in the justice system and if you were to find yourself in court answering a charge of something you had not done, you would appreciate being assisted by a defense attorney.

The root of the problem is the adversarial nature of the American justice system. A brilliant defense lawyer pitched against a not-so brilliant public prosecutor can get someone off who is guilty. A brilliant public prosecutor picthed against an out-of-depth public defender can get someone convicted who is innocent. That is wrong. Less adversarial justice systems, such as some European ones, grant the judge (or panel of judges) more powers over proceedings and can ensure a fairer outcome, i.e. not one that merely depends on whether the prosecutor or the defense attorney is the better lawyer.

Lastly, it is not immoral for a defense attorney to try to get the best deal for his client, even if he knows the client is guilty. That's precisely the job of the defense attorney.

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[–] parisel 13 years ago

It is not the job of the defense attorney to mislead a jury, blur the facts and set a murderer free..It's his job to see that the defendants rights are protected, and that they get a fair trial, not the best deal.

Jose Baez is far from brilliant, but he is sly and devious, and no better morally than his vile client. He saw dollar signs.

There are plenty of good defense attorneys, but some of them forget what their job really is.

There are
I guess it's like looking at clouds. You see one thing and I see another. Peace.

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[–] TheSummer2012 13 years ago

There are plenty of good defense attorneys, but some of them forget what their job really is.

I am not sure I agree but even if this were true, it is the system that fails to rein defense attorneys in. The adversarial system with two sides trying to outshine each other and impress a jury is not a particular good way to achieve justice.

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[–] scilicyde 13 years ago

I think Vail's first lines represent SOME defense attornies
"there is only one truth and that's the one I present to the Jury" not verbatim but it's the jist. Some seem creepy because of their clients and some just are creepy. The time that the lines blur is when you can't tell yourself from the criminals your defend and that's what I think the title means- you fear that you've become like the animals for clients you protect.

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[–] twistedude 12 years ago

I guess it's safe to say--with all our disagreements---that the title is not the greatest. Especially when you consider the right-on exquisite subtlety of Norton's performance.

Unless I mock, my heart will break--
I will burn you at the stake.

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[–] CBikle 13 years ago

"Primal Fear" sounds like the title of a straight-to-video flick with Shannon Tweed as the star.

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[–] qofreason 13 years ago

Sounds cool.

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[–] onurbole 13 years ago

Well "primal" in the sense of primeval/primitive, I thought it was Aaron's escape. In the court we listen to the explanation of how he startled. Unlike his girl friend's murder, which sounds to be perfectly executed so it is considered she just disappeared, he clearly screwed the archbishop's case and fear played a part. Well sure it doesn't explain the story, and I think that was my mind's own twist. When I take "primal" as primary/basic, as I think it is to be done so, then Vail's fear to defend someone he knows he/she is guilty is primal.

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[–] brightfamouscucumber 12 years ago

It makes for a great title, is what. The only example of primal fear portrayed by anybody in the whole movie is the bishop, and then only after losing a few of his fingers, which is when any allegedly primal fear becomes not just a fear, but a reality. So, no. I have absolutely no idea why they decided to use this title, and I happen to believe it to be a major disappointment whenever the title happens to be the best part of a movie, regardless of how many Oscar nominations might also be involved. It makes me feel cheated, really. I will never recommend this movie to anybody, and I am quite glad that the only thing I lost by watching it was time, not anything else even more important like money or an opportunity to have done almost anything else instead.

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[–] vonziggy 12 years ago

ok well I am assuming that this whole thread would be a spoiler so if you don't want to see plot points don't read on!

I took the primal fear to be the way Ed Norton's character dealt with fear. He was Aaron when he was calm and he become Roy when he became threatened, a volatile and aggressive Roy character.

In parallel it was also the way Richard Gere's character deals when he is fearful he is losing the case he starts yelling and lacing into his staff.

You can live on fishes but you can't live on wishes

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[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

They probably just thought it sounded cool.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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