Films Review: Rope By Alfred Hitchcock

 Today we watched Alfred Hitchcock's, Rope, to help with our understanding of storytelling and camerawork. The story is centred around two friends who want to experience the thrill of killing another human and getting away with it. 

The film starts directly throwing the viewer into the murder. This follows the rules of good story telling by capturing the attention of the viewer and introducing the problem within the first act. This instantly caught my attention while simultaneously telling me a lot about both the characters. Based on the two characters conversation directly after the murder you can tell that Brandon is clearly in charge and has orchestrated the whole plan. He is cool and collective and more that anything confident in his plan. From his clothes to the way he holds himself you can make a clear judgement of what sort of person he is, his place in society and his background. This was greatly needed to push the plot along as the film is only 1 hour. My animation has a similar problem, with it being just 2 mins long. I need to be able to present my character in a similar way to Hitchcock so that the audience understands them with little effort. For the most part I think they way that this is done is through stereo types and Hitchcock's assumption that everyone has come across or at least has heard of a person like Brandon. He then overexaggerates his personality by making him say very extreme things to really get the point across of what sort of role Brandon plays in society. 

On the other hand there's Philip, the second culprit. Philip seems agitated the moment we meet him and so the viewer can understand the power dynamic between the two. Brandon has big plans immediately after the murder, with the intention of executing them properly, while Philips whole mind is plagued with what they had just done. Through his actions (grabs multiple alcoholic drinks) and the way he speaks (erratic and shaky) you see the toll it has taken on him.

As the film proceeds towards act 2 the story is presented with tension, the guests, and an obstacle, Rupert Cadell. It is Brandon's plan to have David, their murdered friend, in the room while they throw a party. The body is hidden in plain sight within the chest in the living room. Cadel sticks are put on top to dress it up for a party and food is placed on top to ensure the guests will interact and approach it. Brandon invites a range of people who know him, Philip and David, going so far as to invite David's own parents and David himself. He hopes this will increase the rush gained frim the murder and only strengthen the belief that he cannot be caught. As guests begin to arrive it is clear that Philip feels uneasy, particularly towards a certain guest, Rupert Cadell, who knows all three of the men from when he taught them. Philip is sure that if there is a reason for them to be caught, Rupert will be the one to find it. 

The party proceeds as normal with the guests exchanging conversation around the sofas. It is very obvious something is not quite right between Philip and Brandon and Rupert picks up on this. When a story surrounding the two men's childhood of strangling chickens on a farm is brought up, Philip adamantly denies it and proceeds to drink more heavily. I liked how throughout this scene, subtle words were slipped in which reminded the viewer of the murder. Brandon in particularly brings up death and violent words multiple time, suggesting that it is still on his mind. 

Near the end of the party the maid goes to open the chest when cleaning up and Brandon quickly and suspiciously stops her. That as well as being handed David's hat by mistake and the two men's strange behaviour causes Rupert to become extremely suspicious and worried for David's safety. He decides to act as if he's left something at the party as a way of confronting Brandon and Philip about where David could be. After the three go back and forth, the conversation eventually shifts to the chest in the room and Rupert asks to open it. It is revealed to him the body of David in which he proceeds to shoot his gun out the window to alert those nearby. This is the third act which provides closure and resolves the stories problem.

Overall I feel the story had a very interesting concept however it quickly turns into a strange situation which seems very forced. I think this maybe due to the lack of time the film has, however it very quickly switched to Rupert being very suspicious for a situation which didn't seem too extreme from his prospective. David didn't turn up for an evening party and suddenly it means he's gone missing or is murdered? I understand the two main characters were acting quite suspicious but it seemed like a very extreme stance to take. Although it is explained that Rupert knows all three men very well and their personalities it still seems a bit extreme. Its as if he was waiting for Brandon to kill someone, who know maybe he was. Apart from the details of the story it is set out very well and includes a solid beginning, middle and end. 

By watching this film it has helped me to see how to present my story to make it interesting for the viewer. It was also interesting to watch due to it being recorded in real time and edited to seem like one continues shot. This meant the viewer was never left out of the action and could keep track of the important details throughout the party. This film can be broken down into three components to include a upper class male, an apartment and a rope.