The first scene of The Fugitive in which Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) is introduced, is directly after the first scattered shots of a woman being attacked. Shortly after police cars, lights, and a official tired looking gentleman going down the stairs is portrayed; because of the introductory scenes it can safely be assumed that this is a detective investigating the attack of the woman. He enters what looks like a living room where a obviously distraught man holds his face in his hands. The white t-shirt of this upset man is covered in blood. The preluding circumstances point to this as the potential killer. All that is initially known is what is projected from the news anchor's voice. As we watch this man covered in blood be escorted from his home, the reporter's voice relates that this is Richard Kimble, whose wife, Helen (Sela Ward), was found murdered in their home earlier that evening.
The resulting trial after these initial scenes does not promote any sort of solid conclusion of evidence either. The only profession of evidence that is given is when Kimble insists that he came home to find his wife being attacked by a one handed man. This outburst and Kimble's expressions throughout the ordeal are all we have to assume innocence. It is purposely not revealed until later in the film that Kimble is indeed innocent, it is left for the audience to make the inital verdict.
The train scene is the first opportunity of the audience to gauge Kimble's innocence not simply by the decleration of his words but also by his actions. Kimble and other prisoners are being transported to death row when the other prisoners attempt an escape. One of the inmates feigns a seizure, when a gaurd approaches him to give aid, the inmate stabs the gaurd with a homemade shank. Chaos promptly ensues with the eventual death of the driver. One of the officers enlists Kimble's integrity to save the life of the gaurd who was stabbed. Unfortunately right when Kimble is about to help, a train begins its approach, signaling that the bus has unfortunately crashed into the middle of the train tracks.
When the officer realizes this, he immediately bolts away, putting his own safety over that of his partner. Kimble, who has no responsibility to the dying man, refuses to leave him. Despite a resulting injury that he sustains, Kimble manages to save himself and the gaurd, just in the knick of time. This invoking of sympathy and empathy towards Kimble was crucial to the film (Pfeiffer 212). American audiences love a selfless, handsome hero. To many, self sacrifice and a obvious compassion for others, is proof of innocence. This scene is crucial because it is the first time the audience really starts to find themselves rooting for Kimble and his struggle to prove his innocence and remain a fugitive, despite the tentative evidence that he may not be guilty.
Michael D. Miller
ReplyDeleteProf. Mary McCay, Ph.D.
30 April 2014
Fugitive Blog Response
While I agree with your assessment of the events in the film and we, as an audience already know that Dr. Kimble (Harrison Ford) is innocent of the crime for which he was arrested and found guilty in a court of law, not all guilty people act with willful disregard for their fellow man. A guilty man may have been found guilty for a crime, but that is not who he is as a person. A guilty man may feel remorse or shame for his previous actions and take steps to mend the damage he has done. The guilty person, who has a conscience and a moral compass of right and wrong, will seek to fix what wrongs were committed. If a person feels shame for what they have done, they too may exude certain behaviors such as attacking other people, place blame on others, or even become self-sacrificing.
While watching this film, I thought what if we as an audience were not privy to the opening scenes of the film that depict the brutal murder of Helen Kimble (Sela Ward) and we had not seen the fight between Dr. Kimble and the one-armed man Fred Sykes (Andreas Katsulas), would we still feel the same way about Dr. Kimble’s innocence? Would his heroic acts and selfless acts of kindness be enough to convince the viewing audience that he was an innocent man being vigorously pursued by a callous U.S. Marshal or would his acts bring the viewer to see that this is a man filled with guilt and shame trying to make up for his past wrong doings? I cannot say for certain that these acts alone would push me over the edge into believing that Kimble was innocent. We as movie goers have also become somewhat callous to the variety of films that have taken us down the rabbit hole of compassion for the seemingly innocent man only to learn that the man was in fact guilty motivated by his sense of guilt to mend his break with society and once again become a part of society.
This is not the case with the film The Fugitive. We want Dr. Kimble to prove his innocence, we hope that Marshal Gerard and his team continue to be one step behind him; just enough to keep us in suspense, affording Kimble the time he needs to find the truth. The actions of a guilty or innocent man can be at times similar but for a number of different reasons. Only when all the facts are known can we be certain of the true nature of the person’s intent behind his actions, goodness or guilt.