Madere - The Fugitive

The opening scene of The Fugitive depicts the murder of Dr. Richard Kimble's wife through a montage--a series of short scenes that cut to each other very quickly. All of these scenes are in black and white, which could be for many reasons. Being depicted in black and white makes the scenes look the way they would if they were in a police case file, which are also usually in black and white. Similar to this idea is the way the shots are presented in the end of the montage, as if a camera is flashing and taking the picture, frame by frame, while all the while getting different angles and details of the crime scene.

The starkness of the white versus the black in the scenes also somewhat depicts the gruesome way in which Helen Kimble was murdered, especially with respect to the final full shot of her face. Her eyes and mouth are black as is any blood in the picture, yet her skin is white, which not only shows visually that the life has been drained from her, but literally, as well.

The black and white also makes it difficult to make out specific facial characteristics or flaws of the characters (Helen and her murderer) in the opening montage. This fact is especially important to the development of the story as both the audience and Richard Kimble are unaware of what the murderer looks like. It's also interesting to not that this montage does not include any shots of the one-armed man's prosthetic limb, which makes the audience unsure, even if it's just for a few more scenes, of whether or not Richard Kimble killed his wife.

Ironically, the scene being in black and white would suggest that the case itself is black and white, open and shut. This is definitely how the Chicago Police treat the case and Richard Kimble. However, the audience and Gerard become aware that both the case and Richard Kimble aren't black and white or easily figured out.


In this scene from about a third of the way through the movie, Richard Kimble is facing U.S. Marshal Gerard in a tunnel, getting ready to jump. Gerard thinks he has Kimble trapped and will be able to bring him in easily, as jumping from the ledge into the dam is very dangerous. Instead though, Kimble jumps (and survives).

This scene is taken from a camera angle that shows Gerard's point of view, which explains why Kimble is the dominant, as Kimble's capture is Gerard's goal (even obsession) throughout the movie. The foreground of the scene is dimly lit while the background is lit by natural light, which makes Kimble's appearance in the scene almost shadow-like. It also gives indication that Kimble is coming from a place of darkness to light--and he's bringing the truth about his wife's murder and her murderers to light, also. However, the long fall behind him indicates that he has a long way to go before that goal is acheived. The framing of the scene is relatively tight, but not as tight as it could be. This shows that Kimble does have a choice in the scene--forward, with Gerard and jail, or backward, to possible freedom or death.