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Hitchcock film analysis
Psycho alfred hitchcock film analysis
Psycho alfred hitchcock film analysis
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Briefly explain how Hitchcock blended genres. -Hitchcock blended action and drama for North by Northwest. You know it’s an action film because Roger Thornhill is the “good guy” that you root for against Vandamm in the film. However, by adding Roger’s love interest Eve Campbell, drama is also introduced in the film. Throughout the film, after Roger meets Eve, the plot has a focus concerning their relationship to one another and its development. Find a few key words to describe Roger Thornhill at the beginning of the film. Describe his appearance, mannerisms, and personality. -Womanizer, sly, smooth-talking, professional-looking, witty, in control, dapper Do you notice any changes as the film progresses? If so, when? To what extent does he emerge as a new man by the final scene? …show more content…
Every time Roger tries to be honest, whether it is convincing Vandamm that he is not Kaplan or the police that Townsend made him drink and drive, his situation gets worse. However, Eve is one of the most honest characters in the film, which is a change that Roger seems to like, and once she is introduced, the truth seems to set Roger free in terms of the plot. What do you think of the ending of this film? Is it an example of brilliant editing, or do you want more information? -I think it is clever editing more than anything else. I don't really care to see how they survived or what happened between the Mount Rushmore scene to the ending scene. I think it is more important to see that they did survive and get a happy ending. Also, Roger saying, “C’mon, Mrs. Thornhill,” gives enough information to satisfy my curiosity. Also, it is cool to see how Hitchcock related that dire moment on Mount Rushmore and countered it with putting Eve and Roger in their comfort place: the train where they first met. What makes this finale both a typical Hollywood ending and a parody? Consider the lighting, music, costuming, and that parting shot of the train into the
Rear Window effectively demonstrates Hitchcock’s strong qualities as an auteur. The writer for Rear Window is not Hitchcock, and yet there are clearly many motifs and themes present which are well known for being used by Hitchcock. He is not merely following instructions of how to make the movie he is providing his own creative adjustments.
...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.
Alfred Hitchcock’s films not only permanently scar the brains of his viewers but also addict them to his suspense. Hitchcock’s films lure you in like a trap, he tells the audience what the characters don’t know and tortures them with the anticipation of what’s going to happen.
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.
...that adds yet another layer of complexity to North by Northwest. Hitchcock skillfully introduces Eve (a major character) to the film in only a few short minutes, without it feeling too convoluted or forced. Additionally, capturing the unique juxtaposition of the unassuming setting with the conversation of intrigue makes the scene stand out even more.
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
Hitchcock has characteristics as an auteur that is apparent in most of his films, as well as this one.
North by Northwest is your basic espionage thriller involving mistaken identity and a government conspiracy. Cary Grant plays advertising executive Roger Thornhill, who, one evening at his usual club, calls over the page boy when he is paging a Mr. George Kaplan. Two mysterious men observing Grant get the idea that Mr. Thornhill is Mr. Kaplan, not simply a man talking to a boy who is paging him. Believing him to be Mr. Kaplan, the two men kidnap Thornhill at gunpoint and whisk him away to a beautiful mansion somewhere outside the city. An important discussion point is as to which type of hero Roger Thornhill is.
The movie Psycho, is one of the most influential movie in Cinema history to date. The director Alfred Hitchcock, wanted to test many of the conventions of movie making that was common at that time. Alfred Hitchcock movie broke many cultural taboos and challenged the censors. Alfred Hitchcock showed a whole bunch of at the time absurd scene, for example: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) dying naked while taking a shower, Norman Bates with split personality disorder, and the first ever flushing toilet shown in a movie. Because from the late 1920's to the late 1950's, movies were made usually go around the story, and usually with a lot dialogue. This movie gives the audience an experience that was much more emotional and intuitive. The viewers were caught up in a roller coaster of shock, surprise and suspense based on image, editing and sound.
In the film, “North by Northwest” we see a series of shots that creates suspense and danger. The point of the film is very vague and it ends without a resolution to the main conflict. The incredible camera work and techniques that Alfred Hitchcock did created a feeling of danger and suspense, making the audience want to see more. Also, Hitchcock's film main character Roger O. Thornhill creates suspense with his mistaken identity and fight for his escape. The film uses a handful of shots, for example, medium shots, close ups, long shots and shot-reverse-shots. I found particularly interesting how a handful of shots can create suspense and the feeling of danger can create a misleading plot.
Alfred Hitchcock’s unique sense of filmmaking and directing has allowed him to become a very famous and well known film maker of his time. He uses similar recurring themes, elements, and techniques in many of his films to engage the viewers in more than just the film, but the meaning and focus behind the story.
This paper has attempted to investigate the ways in which Alfred Hitchcock blended conventions of film noir with those of a small town domestic comedy. It first looked at the opening scenes of the film in which the two conventions were introdruced. It then went on to analyse the film with the aid of Robin Wood's article Ideology, Genre, Auteur. From these two forms we can see that film noir and small town comedy were used as a means of commenting on the contradictions in American values.
The parallel between Alicia’s dependence on Devlin and Alex’s on his mother is prominent in the final scene. The scene takes place on the grand staircase of Alex’s mansion. Influenced by German Expressionism, stairs serve an integral role in this and subsequent films. Alicia, propped up by Devlin, and Alex, shadowed by his over-bearing mother, all descend the grand staircase in the mansion under the eyes of the Nazi party. Outside of the house, Alicia and Devlin make their escape to freedom while Alex reluctantly returns up the stairs to his fate with the Nazis. Ending the film on the stairs attests to Hitchcock’s style.
All of these characters refashioned themselves into something new for different reasons, and for the most part with different outcomes. They all show though that man is put into situations where he has to change. He has to refashion himself to survive. Sometimes we gain friends. Others we gain materialistic things. Then others we learn about whom we are or want to be and grow even more.
... middle of paper ... ... Throughout the story he changes physically, mentally, and emotionally from a young child to an old man, which makes him a dynamic character. He became a very dynamic character because he found a need for materialistic things such as statues and homes such as Xanadu, his large home on a vast plot of secluded land.