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| Fig 1: Film Poster |
A highly tense film drenched in suspense, and openly
portrays morbidly sadistic actions, Alfred Hitchcock's “Rope” (1948) is either thoroughly enjoyed by many or brushed off
as unsatisfactory by others.
It is based on the 1929 play (of the same name) by
Patrick Hamilton, which, just like the film, is played out continuously.
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| Fig 2: The murder |
“Rope” tells
the story of two homosexual gentlemen (see Fig 2) execute the strangulation and murder of a
fellow classmate; both inspired by the philosophy of Nietzchain superiority
that they learned in college. In a sly
move, Hitchcock tampers at the audiences hearts to feel for the father of the
murder victim, as Fernando Croce explains: “As the guests are entertained by Brandon and Rupert’s morbid
jesting, Hitchcock gently pans right to reveal the dead boy’s father (Cedric
Hardwicke) looking out the window as he waits for the son we know is never
coming” (Croce, 2006)
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| Fig 3: Cautious killers: Phillip and Brandon |
The movie induces anxiety and a feeling of being on edge as Phillip and
Brandon do as they conduct the party. These emotions, however, are shown in a clever
way as the steady and slow camera movement mean calm and connectedness, much
like Brandon's emotions for the majority of the film,where as a fast paced
camera and movement would show more nervousness and desperation and would be
leaning towards a horror movie. A notable point is that action is only shown
right at the beginning and end of the film, and this sort of closes the full
circle of events in “Rope”. The
actions being the murder at the beginning and then the closure of the
apartments bloody secret being exposed as the window is opened, gunshots are
fired and Brandon and Phillip accept their downfall as sirens blare.
Coming back to the experimental continuous shot Hitchcock used, during the time of release it was not fully appreciated as it would be today. Here, Bosley Crowther explains the
disappointment of the continuous camera movement in a review done in 1948: “one must bluntly observe that the method is
neither effective nor does it appear that it could be.” (Crowther, 1948).
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| Figs 4 and 5: day and night |
The shots actually give the illusion that is was filmed
in one take; at certain points, the camera is cut as it zooms into the back of
a character to show a pitch black, and then fades back in as if the camera had
just passed an obstacle, and thus “sustaining
the illusion that no editing has taken place.”(S.D) Seen now, it is truly a
masterful technique. Aiding the feel of the film being shot all at once, the
panoramic view of the city is shown to graduate from day to night during the
course of the film (Figs 4 and 5).
As stated before, two college men murder a fellow
classmate. As they stuff his body into an antique chest, the two host a small
party and invite the murder victims (David Kently) friends and family, and they
unknowingly dine in the same room as Davids dead body, adding to this sense of morbidness. During the course of the film, Brandon and Phillip slowly approach
the topic of murder and make light and suggestive remarks of what they have
done: “As the guests wander obliviously around the sealed chest, the killers
make snippy, veiled comments about their deed--never going so far as to reveal
the existence of the body nor their involvement in the murder.”(S.D) Rupert
Cadell, the school housemaster who first discussed murder with the two men is
the first to have suspicions of Brandon and Phillips behavior. The audience
can see a rapid loss of composure within Phillip as his hair becomes frazzled,
he becomes more and more drunk and the guests (see Fig 6) keep asking if he’s okay. Brandon
on the other hand keeps collected much more, and keeps reassuring Phillip.
Crowther also analyses these characters behaviors: “In the role of the more cold-blooded killer, John Dall does a hard,
aggressive job of making this unpleasant fellow supremely contemptible, and
Farley Granger is tangibly wretched as the less ecstatic one. “ (Crowther,
1948). As the guests leave, Brandon closes the door and smiles a sigh of
relief, however, Rupert comes back to alleviate his suspicions.He finally opens
the chest and is in shock at the sight of David, and he can’t believe the two
carried out what they had discussed. In a climatic ending, justice is served as
Rupert bursts open the window, fires three gunshots and waits for the police to
take the criminals.
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| Fig 6: The guests |
A notable scene is near the end of the feature, where the
camera departs from the characters and seemingly moves around on its own,
looking at object to object as Rupert describes how we would’ve gotten rid of
David. Another is the high tension scene of the maid cleaning the top of the
chest and opening it slightly, and the audience believes its all over for
Brandon and Phillip; this scene enthralls suspense even more. Lastly, the
presence of the neon lights of a nearby sign adds to the visualization of the
inner chaos going on inside the murders minds: for example, the red hue shows
anger and death, then when it changes to green (see Fig 7 below), it shows the sickly feeling of
unbearable anxiety.
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| Fig 7: Climatic ending: a green hue |
Lastly, Phillip and Brandon were gay, but this was not
explicitly shown as for the time of release, it would not be accepted at all,
however there are some scenes of Brandon and Phillip getting very close, thus
showing sexual tension on top of the other anxieties.
A masterclass in suspense and longing for the characters to
catch the bad guys in their tracks, “Rope”
is certainly a film not to be missed.
Bibliography
Croce, F. (2006) Slantmagazine.com (Accessed on 12/01/2016) http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/rope
Crowther, B. (1948) nytimes.com (Accessed on 12/01/2016) http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=980DE3D81630E03BBC4F51DFBE668383659EDE
S.D, mrqe.com (Accessed on 12/01/2016) http://www.mrqe.com/movie_reviews/rope-m100009719
Illustration List
Fig 1: "Film poser" (Accessed on 12/01/2016) https://filmbalaya.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/tm1_642.jpg
Fig 2: "The murder" (Accessed on 12/01/2016) http://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/uploads/2013/10/Rope-murder.jpg
Fig 3: "Cautious killers: Phillip and Brandon" (Accessed on 12/01/2016) http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v348/siochembio/movies%201940s/rope1.jpg
Fig 4 and 5: "Day and night" (Accessed on 12/01/2016) http://hitchcockzone.com/1000/Rope%20%281948%29/0043.jpg
Fig 6: "The guests" (Accessed on 12/01/2016) http://www.cinemagraphe.com/_movies/rope-1948/rope-photo-1948.jpg
Fig 7:"Climatic ending: a green hue" (Accessed on 12/01/2016) https://i.guim.co.uk/img/static/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/8/26/1314358380443/Rope-013.jpg?w=700&q=85&auto=format&sharp=10&s=5178f8ae83373873fea9c9dd65fe889c
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