Aaron Tran International Film History - Alfred Hitchcock Films Adrianne Carageorge 6 February 2017 Essay #1 Alfred Hitchcock developed his signature style from his earlier works The Lodger and Blackmail. These films were the framework for his signature films later on. His themes of “an innocent man who is accused of a crime” and “the guilty woman” were first seen in these two films and are repeated throughout Hitchcock’s cinematic history In Hitchcock’s narrative structure, he focuses on relationships. The relationship between society and their thoughts of morality, guilt and innocence. In the film, we never witness a murder, only the outcome of them. What we do see are the reactions to the killings. Every single week, the newspapers write …show more content…
Joe’s affirmation for Daisy has him jealous of the closeness that Daisy and the lodger develop. Joe begins to get upset and comes between Daisy and the Lodger which upsets Daisy more. Joe encounters Daisy and the Lodger on a street bench late at night and confronts them. He has finally had enough. Joe “connects” what the dots he has and convinces not only himself but others that “the Lodger flipped the pictures of the woman in the room, therefore he is the Avenger. He has detectives go into the lodger's room and they find a black bag with a gun, and a map of the Avenger’s killings. Not only does Joe and the Buntings believe this, but as the audience, no matter the romantic relationship between Daisy and the Lodger, the evidence shows that he must be the Avenger which is Hitchcock’s intention. After the lodger gets away, Joe causes a bar full of people to run and mob the Lodger. When Joe finds out that the real Avenger has been caught, he goes out to save the lodger and more importantly Daisy. However, as soon as he gets there, the newspaper boy arrives to inform the masses that the Avenger has been caught. The media and newspaper stands inform the crowd and shape how they should feel. The hate and anger against the Lodger, turn into hate and Anger that the lodger isn’t the Avenger and that they cannot kill the actually Avenger. The way Hitchcock has this happen says everything
Now we will address a few of these from the film. First, Drawing parallels between characters with a difference, usually a negative one, is a repeated concept in Hitchcock films. Such as in the film “Strangers On a Train”, where Bruno ends up killing Guys’ wife while Guy had himself been desiring to be rid of her somehow. Here in “Rear Window” early in the film we can see this between Lisa and Jeff to Thorwald
...ormation of novel to film, sees Hitchcock’s responsibility as auteur. Suggesting Hitchcock as ‘creator’, attributes to Vertigo’s “perfection” (Wood, p.129) as Wood argues. Stylistic features known classically to Alfred Hitchcock movies is also what defines Hitchcock as a classic auteur, his style generates a cinematic effect which mixes effectively with his use of suspense. In returning to Cook’s discussion, she references Andrew Sarris, who argues that the “history of American cinema could be written in terms of its great directors,” (Cook, p. 411) showing the legitimacy of authorship in popular American cinema. Ultimately Cook goes on to address the changes in authorship from the 1950’s until today, featuring developments in authorship within Cinema. Overall, both Cook and Wood presented a balanced discussion on the legitimacy of Alfred Hitchcock’s auteur status.
Hitchcock’s techniques in North by Northwest to create suspense is unquestionable, because we have seen some of the elements of the mise en scene and camera shots he used to keep the audience guessing throughout the film. The film is “the wittiest, most sophisticated thriller ever made” (Ehrenstein par1). The film have “extraordinary technical skill or martini-dry sense of fun” (Ehrenstein par2), therefore, it is clear that North by Northwest is one of the most suspenseful movies of all
Throughout the novel Harper Lee explores the racism, prejudice, and the innocence that occurs throughout the book. She shows these topics through her strong use of symbolism throughout the story.
Part of what makes Cooper’s unreliable narration work is the narrative expectations for suspense. Often called “The Master of Suspense,” Hitchcock was known for letting his viewers “play god” by giving them privileged information that the characters on screen don’t have in order to harness the audience's expectations and anticipation. Casetti described this as providing the audience with suspicion, the tools needed to construct a narrative and the motivations of characters (70). Since Cooper and Hitchcock withhold the correct information until near the end of the film they intentionally let viewer build the wrong story and experience a surprise deception. Surprise deceptions, such as the one found in Stage Fright, were not done in the Classic Hollywood Cinema and when paired with traditional models of trust in film open up many layers of exploration into the reaction of the
In 1926, Hitchcock directed The Lodger; which is considered his first real film; he reflects his technical abilities in addition to his capacity to manage narration and symbolism. This style transformed in his signature for the subsequent films. The Lodger is the template of Hitchcock´s films because in he established a certain formula as well as certain theme to develop and explore in his next films. According to Spoto one of the iconic elements that Hitchcock incorporate in this film was a revealing and full with important information opening scene, which he would use in all of his films. Also the couple formation, symbols and underlying ideas that would be treated in the films, start with the production of The Lodger. It would be appropriate
Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo is a film which functions on multiple levels simultaneously. On a literal level it is a mystery-suspense story of a man hoodwinked into acting as an accomplice in a murder, his discovery of the hoax, and the unraveling of the threads of the murder plot. On a psychological level the film traces the twisted, circuitous routes of a psyche burdened down with guilt, desperately searching for an object on which to concentrate its repressed energy. Finally, on an allegorical or figurative level, it is a retelling of the immemorial tale of a man who has lost his love to death and in hope of redeeming her descends into the underworld.
Inspired by the life of the demented, cannibalistic Wisconsin killer Ed Gein (whose heinous acts would also inspire THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, 1974 and DERANGED, 1974), PSYCHO is probably Hitchcock's most gruesome and dark film. Its importance to its genre cannot be overestimated. PSYCHO's enduring influence comes not only from the Norman Bates character (who has since been reincarnated in a staggering variety of forms), but also from the psychological themes Hitchcock develops.
Everybody knows Alfred Hitchcock is the master of suspense and is known for inciting fear in the hearts of his audience. His multiple, fast cuts directs his audience to what he wants them to see and feel. Close-ups of the actors faces clearly shows what the characters are feeling and forces the audience to feel the same emotions. With all his expert directing skills, is there any meaning behind what he chooses to portray in his films or is it all for show? Could there be a deeper meaning to his films? The answer to these questions is a firm yes. Hitchcock’s past experiences guided him to be the director he was. The inadequateness of the police, control of all details in his films, and long stretches of no dialogue all portrayed in his films are all directly correlated to Hitchcock’s early life and early professional life.
Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite subject was the superficial placidity of American life, whose clean, bright surfaces disguised the most shockingly moral, political, psychological and sexual aberrations. For Hitchcock, the most striking, funny, and terrifying quality of American life was its confidence in its sheer ordinariness. Beneath the surface, ordinary people and normal life were always ‘bent’ for Hitchcock.
One major attribute in Hitchcock films is how creatively Hitchcock tricks the audience about the fate of the characters and the sequence of events. Many people argue that it is a tactic by Hitchcock to surprise his audience in order to increase the suspense of the movie. For example, in Shadow of a Doubt, the audience assumes that young Charlie is an innocent young girl who loves her uncle dearly. However as the movie progresses, Young Charlie is not as innocent as the audience suspects. Young Charlie, once a guiltless child, ends up killing her evil uncle. In Vertigo, the same Hitchcock trickery takes place. In the beginning, the audience has the impression that the Blond women is possessed by another woman who is trying to kill her. The audience also has the notion that the detective is a happy man who will solve the murder case correctly. Just before the movie ends, the audience realizes that the detective was specifically hired by a man to kill his wife. The detective, in the end, seems to be the hopeless, sad victim.
Symbolism. Why is it important in a novel? Why do authors incorporate symbols into their writing? Symbolism aids the reader in understanding what the author wants to portray. In Harper Lee’s novel To Kill A Mockingbird, she writes about the racism in a small town in Alabama named Maycomb set in the 1930’s and about two children growing up and learning that their town is not as perfect as they thought. The theme topic appearance versus reality helps to get a better understanding of the symbols used in the novel and that you should not judge something by their appearance, you should judge by the reality of what it is. “As Atticus once advised me to do, I tried to climb into Jem’s skin and walk around in it.” (Scout page 77) In her novel, there are many symbols throughout the narrative that relate to the theme topic appearance versus reality. Harper Lee writes symbols into her novel, such as the snowman, Mrs. Dubose’s Camellia flower and Dolphus Raymond’s Coca-Cola bottle to help reinforce the theme topic of appearance versus reality throughout the novel.
Hitchcock has a way of throwing clues in the face of the spectator, yet still allows some room for the spectator to find their own less obvious details. In the same museum scene, Hitchcock shows the viewer exactly what he wants them to see. In a sense, Hitchcock can be very manipulative with the camera. The audience sees the picture containing the women with a curl in her hair holding flowers, and then the direct connection is made by the camera, by showing the curl in Madeline’s hair, and the flowers sitting next to her. The spectator is led to believe that they have solved the mystery and she is truly possessed by the women in the picture. However, Hitchcock does this on purpose to lead the audience away from the truth that she is only acting. It is for these reasons that Hitchcock’s work at an auteur adds a level of depth and intrigue.
The two films Psycho and The Birds, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, share similar themes and elements. These recurring themes and elements are often prevalent in many of Hitchcock’s works. In Psycho and The Birds, Hitchcock uses thematic elements like the ideal blonde woman, “the motherly figure”, birds, and unusual factors that often leave the viewer thinking. Hitchcock’s works consist of melodramatic films, while also using pure cinema to help convey messages throughout the film.
There are four crucial scenes of this film in which Hitchcock shows a change in perspective and identity through the mise-en-scène. Hitchcock’s signature motifs, style, and themes are conveyed through the mise-en-scène.