ALFRED HITCHCOCK: A Master of Duality
For many, the name Alfred Hitchcock conjures hazy and disconnected memories of Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Rio, Tippi Hedren being chased by killer birds, or Jimmy Stewart in a wheelchair; but for others -- those that are somewhat more experienced with the work of Hitchcock -- the utterance of his moniker means much more. Indeed, many consider Hitchcock to be not only one of the most prolific and entertaining filmmakers, but also one of the most profound. A recurring -- and certainly intriguing -- motif that holds together his body of work is his incessant interest and portrayal of duality: the conflicting, yet in some ways similar, nature of life. That is to say, Hitchcock (and no other, on as prestigious a level) was able to brilliantly compare, reduce, and then reevaluate polar opposites that every human encounters. Love or hate, man or woman, privacy or voyeurism, and dishonesty or fidelity were just some of the many themes he unraveled in the stories and aesthetics of his films. Two such films -- with particular interest as each illustrates by movement, mise-en-scen, and narrative strategy, Hitchcock's penchant for duality -- are Vertigo, in which he juxtaposes the archetypal struggle between life and death, and Psycho, where he dabbles in the much more complex evaluation of openness and mystery.
Vertigo, one of Hitchcock's best-loved films, investigates the connection between life and death. Indeed, the premise of this
In Vertigo, this possibility manifests itself in the form of reincarnation -- of Carlotta possessing Madeleine. For Hitchcock to successfully compare these extremes, he must first convince the audience that reincarnation is a viable explanation, and that life and death can exist simultaneously. He succeeds in this endeavor most completely in one single moment during Scottie's dream sequence.
In Scottie's dream, he envisions Carlotta as living -- standing there between him and Gavin. This single frame is essential evidence of Hitchcock's comparison of this duality because it reveals living persons in the same space and time as those who are dead. In the same dream, Scottie sees the animated Carlotta standing still, and framed precisely like the previous revealed portrait of her. The movement of this character (or the lack thereof) begins to suggest that the similarities between life and death may not be so strong. Indeed, the identical pose held by the character in life, and in the painted record of it, begins to deconstruct this duality.
The relationship between life and death is further analyzed by the mise-en-scen (the "setting") as the lighting suddenly begins to change. In flashes of light creating a strobe-like effect, Hitchcock manipulates the color of the image from clear to almost antique, calling attention to a seeming overlap in present and past. Moreover, the effect, coupled with rapid edits between only slightly varying frames of the images, brings to mind the notion of reanimation.
As the film progresses, however, Hitchcock completes his comparison within the narrative. Because the possibility of reincarnation is later shattered by the fact that all was nothing more than the residue of an elaborate murder scheme, the duality of life and death becomes fully defined. Thus, Hitchcock successfully uses the tools of movement, setting, and editing to suggest similarities the two, and his story to deny them.
The film Psycho is perhaps most…
Not only does Nichols provide a good context for the many paradoxes that can confront film studies with his insightful and thoughtful introduction, but he also shows how sharing approaches and methods can help to stimulate a lot of the best writing regarding film. In addition he shows many of the common problems that are seen and deals with the contradictions that appear. Like the first volume of the anthology,
Film Analysis Worksheet Karmen Gei / Wednesday October 14, 2015 Karmen Gei Director, Year Joseph Gai Ramaka, 2001 Mode (for instance, adaptation) Adopted from novel; influenced by Carmen. Approximate time code (beg. -- end.) of selected scene Title or brief description of sequence Opening dance scene Number of shots in selected sequence What happens, at the level of plot or narration, in this sequence? As a musical sequence, it sets the tone for the film and introduces the audience to the
What is the movie houses response goal? The movies houses would like to take advantage of the fact that YouTube and other social outlets have a massive following. If the movie houses can generate enough excitement by running ads along with trailers and clips of the movies then they turn a negative into a positive. Secondly, the movie houses would like to generate additional revenues from online distribution, but so
The spectator is unwittingly sutured into a colonialist perspective. But such techniques are not inevitably colonialist in their operation. One of the innovations of Pontocorvo's Battle of Algiers is to invert the imagery of encirclement and exploit the identificatory mechanisms of cinema in behalf of the colonized rather than the colonizer (Noble, 1977). It is from within the casbah that we see and hear the French troops and helicopters. This
The film shows that human beings unlike the robots were way too dependent on habits and routines that make people unfocused causing people to not be able to make their own decisions (Barnes). Later on, when Wall-E ends up by accident bumps into one of the women, she understands that her attires have transformed into a different color and that she lastly opens her eyes and observes everything from
In the heist itself, time overlaps, and actions that have already been shown are repeated from another character's point-of-view. The audience is left to pout the pieces together so that we see a character do something and then se how it helps the next action lead to the desired conclusion. At the racetrack, with the announcement of the start of the fifth race, the film cuts to Johnny, in the
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now