the master of suspense
Lately I’ve been exploring the genius film making of Alfred Hitchcock. It’s no secret that Psycho is my all-time favorite movie. Rear Window is a close second. But up until recently, I haven’t truly taken the time to understand his movies.
I think most people get the pop-culture aspect of it. Everyone knows the shower scene, and who could forget the birds chasing the school children? But I’ve come to understand that Psycho and The Birds are very rare examples of his work. He does not create horror films, and graphic violence is something he only used in these two films I’ve mentioned.
Actually, as crazy as it may sound, I sometimes think Hitchcock was a romantic. All of his movies center around a relationship, a love affair. These are not monsters. They are ordinary people, trapped in uncommon circumstances. They are fighting to survive, and often times we are tricked into sympathizing with the killer.
Let’s take Rope, where the two lead characters are almost caught many times. We are nervous for them, we are scared. We don’t want them to get caught with the body. Isn’t that a bit twisted?
The gay aspects of his films are also very intriguing, especially for the time period. It makes me very curious about Hitchcock’s inner motives. Rebecca clearly tells the story of a lesbian who is obsessed with a dead woman. She is so in love, and can’t part with the memories. By the end of the film, her obsession drives her to suicide. In Rope, we have two gay men (played by gay actors, no less) who are near orgasm at the opening of the film because the act of murder was so exciting to them. And in Strangers of a Train, a man developes an infatuation with a well known male tennis player.
Was Hitchcock supportive of gay people? It seems the gay people were always the criminals, but yet he seemed very sympathetic of them. Were they just victims of circumstance, as I mentioned earlier?
The questions go on. I just wanted to write this post in case anyone else is thinking of watching some old Hitchcock films. I highly recommend it. His career was incredible, and today’s movies can’t even touch the brilliant work he created.
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Hitchcock was a genius, and I appreciate your review of his gay overtones. I’m not sure if it was gay overtones at all, or his play on the sexuality of suspense and horror. In “Rope” by the way, the entire film was shot on a single set on a soundstage where walls were lifted/dropped depending on camera movement. Genius.
LOVE the Halloween design, UncN!
It’s great, I love hitchcock movies! Love the new colors too!
Love the new colors…can’t wait for the next holiday!
Greetings from Raleigh NC
Have you aver seen Dial “M” for Murder? That’s my favorite along with Rear Window ( I guess I’m a Grace Kelly freak)
But anyhow thought I would say hi. Saw that you had lived here in Raleigh for a while (I swear you do look familiar)
Why Darlin’,
you went an’ decorated for Halloween. Now, ain’t you the festive lil’ puppy!
JonJon an’ me just love them Afred Hitchcock movies. If you ain’t seen Young And Innocent, you should. It’s real good…
Huggs, etc… Bunny Lynn
Very keen observations Nathan. What you describe is known as the film genre of Film Noir and happens to be my favorite genre of film. The hallmark of these films is the hero, or heroine, is inevitably drawn into circumstances that are beyond their control and they find themselves in a deeply layered situation. These films are very complex and are often romantic because they deal a lot with the complexities and moral plasticity of human emotion. Some other film noir that I think you should check out are “Mildred Pierce” “Chinatown” and “LA Confidential” and “The Talented Mr. Ripley.” There are many other great noir films but those are some of my favorites.
Autumn colors, how cool!
You already know how highly I think of Hitchcock. I think he was one of the greatest craftsmen in film history. And I think you hit on something really powerful here. His movies were always more about people trying to relate to another in spite of tremendously sinister and incomprehensible forces closing in on them. They usually succeeded by drawing together.
And he was waaaay gay.
Like I said before, I’m going to delve into the world of Hitchcock to see what treasure lay there. First up is Rope, of course.