Rope (1948) Film Review
2
StevenPayne Unit4Storytelling Rope (1948) Dir.AlfredHitchcock Ropeisa1948filmdirectedbyAlfredHitchcock, widelyknownforitsimplied‘cut-less’cinematography.It isbasedontheplayofthesamenameandispresented inasimilarmanner,withaseamlesstransitionfromshot toshot,whichgivestheimpressionthatthevieweris,in fact,watchingitonstage.Thisapproachwentagainst thethenmodernprocessofcuttingasfrequentlyas necessaryinordertoretaintheenergyofascene,but thismethoddidnotpresentthesametheatricalfeelthat Hitchcockdesired.AssaidbyEmmanuelLevy, “H itchc oc kto ldTruffaut thatthefi lm wa s a “stunt,”andthat“Ireallydon'tknowhowIcameto indulgein'Rope.”Butclearly,thefilmismorethana stunt;it'sanambitiousexperiment.” (Levy,2005) Thedrawnout pr esentation ofthe filmis wha t makesthesuspensesounbearablyeffective.Itisa constantbuilduptowhatisblatantlyinevitable,andyet thecrescendoisstretchedoutasfarasitcouldpossibly go.Unlikemostfilmswherethesuspensecomesfrom withholdinginformationfromtheaudience, Ropepresentsdramafromtheoutset,letting theaudienceinonthedarksecretandeffectivelyputtingtheminthepositionofthekillers, holdingtheirbreathinsyncwiththecharactersonscreen.Itisapparentfromthebeginning thatthecentreoffocusisthetrunkinwhichthebodyisstored,andthisconsequently reinforcesthecontinuoussuspense.AsisthesamewithBrandonandPhilip,themoment anyoftheguestsmovestowardsthetrunk,everyheartintheaudiencesinks.Whetheryou wantthemtobecaughtortogetawaywithit,thetensionisstillachinglypresenteither way.RogerEbertaddressesthesuspensethatcomesfromthepairingofthetrunkandthe continuousscenetransitions,saying, “Oncethecharactershaveenteredtheroom,therecan’tbeanyjumpsintime,or thesuspensewillbelost.Theaudiencemustknowthatthebodyisalwaysrighttherein thetrunk.” (Ebert,1984) Even the undeniable con fidence o f Brandon does li tt le to se t the audience’s mi nd at ease,especiallywhenpairedwiththeunhingedandunpredictablemannerismsofPhilip.The twocharactersarebothclearlymurderers,aswitnessedatthebeginningofthefilm, althoughtheyseemtobeentirelyoppositearchetypicalkillers.Brandonisaself-righteous andexceedinglycocksure,feelinghisactionsaretotallyjustifiedbyhissuperiorityoverthe commoncitizen.Philip,ontheotherhand,hasamorehumanopinionofmortality, shudderingconstantlyattheknowledgethatheisamurderer. “Intheroleofthemorecold-bloodedkiller,JohnDall(Brandon)doesahard, aggressivejobofmakingthisunpleasantfellowsupremelycontemptible,andFarley Granger(Philip)istangiblywretchedasthelessecstaticone.” (Crowther,1948) Unlike Brandon, Phil ip is sho wn to be graduall y c racking under t he wei ght of his guilt,attemptingtodrownhisnervesincopiousamountsofalcohol,whichofcourse,only makesmattersworse.Theirradicaldifferencesinpersonalityresultinthemhavingtobattle oneanother,aswellascoveringuptheirhandiwork. Ropeisaneffectiveexampleofthesuspense,dramaandexceptionalstorytelling thatcanbeachievedwithoutanoversaturationofcomplexeditingandsharpcutsbetween shots.Whilstitwasnotcommerciallysuccessfulatthetime,itcanbeappreciatedtoa Fig1. RopeFilmPoster
Transcript of Rope (1948) Film Review
8/3/2019 Rope (1948) Film Review
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rope-1948-film-review 1/2
StevenPayne Unit4Storytelling
Rope(1948)
Dir.AlfredHitchcock
Ropeisa1948filmdirectedbyAlfredHitchcock,
widelyknownforitsimplied‘cut-less’cinematography.It
isbasedontheplayofthesamenameandispresented
inasimilarmanner,withaseamlesstransitionfromshottoshot,whichgivestheimpressionthatthevieweris,in
fact,watchingitonstage.Thisapproachwentagainst
thethenmodernprocessofcuttingasfrequentlyas
necessaryinordertoretaintheenergyofascene,but
thismethoddidnotpresentthesametheatricalfeelthat
Hitchcockdesired.AssaidbyEmmanuelLevy,
“HitchcocktoldTruffautthatthefilmwasa
“stunt,”andthat“Ireallydon'tknowhowIcameto
indulgein'Rope.”Butclearly,thefilmismorethana
stunt;it'sanambitiousexperiment.” (Levy,2005)
Thedrawnoutpresentationofthefilmiswhatmakesthesuspensesounbearablyeffective.Itisa
constantbuilduptowhatisblatantlyinevitable,andyet
thecrescendoisstretchedoutasfarasitcouldpossibly
go.Unlikemostfilmswherethesuspensecomesfrom
withholdinginformationfromtheaudience,Ropepresentsdramafromtheoutset,letting
theaudienceinonthedarksecretandeffectivelyputtingtheminthepositionofthekillers,
holdingtheirbreathinsyncwiththecharactersonscreen.Itisapparentfromthebeginning
thatthecentreoffocusisthetrunkinwhichthebodyisstored,andthisconsequently
reinforcesthecontinuoussuspense.AsisthesamewithBrandonandPhilip,themoment
anyoftheguestsmovestowardsthetrunk,everyheartintheaudiencesinks.Whetheryou
wantthemtobecaughtortogetawaywithit,thetensionisstillachinglypresenteitherway.RogerEbertaddressesthesuspensethatcomesfromthepairingofthetrunkandthe
continuousscenetransitions,saying,
“Oncethecharactershaveenteredtheroom,therecan’tbeanyjumpsintime,or
thesuspensewillbelost.Theaudiencemustknowthatthebodyisalwaysrighttherein
thetrunk.”(Ebert,1984)
EventheundeniableconfidenceofBrandondoeslittletosettheaudience’smindat
ease,especiallywhenpairedwiththeunhingedandunpredictablemannerismsofPhilip.The
twocharactersarebothclearlymurderers,aswitnessedatthebeginningofthefilm,
althoughtheyseemtobeentirelyoppositearchetypicalkillers.Brandonisaself-righteous
andexceedinglycocksure,feelinghisactionsaretotallyjustifiedbyhissuperiorityoverthe
commoncitizen.Philip,ontheotherhand,hasamorehumanopinionofmortality,
shudderingconstantlyattheknowledgethatheisamurderer.
“Intheroleofthemorecold-bloodedkiller,JohnDall(Brandon)doesahard,
aggressivejobofmakingthisunpleasantfellowsupremelycontemptible,andFarley
Granger(Philip)istangiblywretchedasthelessecstaticone.” (Crowther,1948)
UnlikeBrandon,Philipisshowntobegraduallycrackingundertheweightofhis
guilt,attemptingtodrownhisnervesincopiousamountsofalcohol,whichofcourse,only
makesmattersworse.Theirradicaldifferencesinpersonalityresultinthemhavingtobattle
oneanother,aswellascoveringuptheirhandiwork.
Ropeisaneffectiveexampleofthesuspense,dramaandexceptionalstorytelling
thatcanbeachievedwithoutanoversaturationofcomplexeditingandsharpcutsbetween
shots.Whilstitwasnotcommerciallysuccessfulatthetime,itcanbeappreciatedtoa
Fig1.RopeFilmPoster
8/3/2019 Rope (1948) Film Review
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/rope-1948-film-review 2/2
StevenPayne Unit4Storytelling
greaterextentinmorerecenttimes,wherefilmsarebecominglessaboutstorytellingand
moreaboutpolish.
Bibliography
Quotes
Levy,E.(2005)Rope.In:emanuellevy.com7.10.05[online]http://www.emanuellevy.com/review/rope-4/(Accessedon6/2/12)
Ebert,R.(1984)Rope.In:rogerebert.suntimes.com15.6.84[online]
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19840615/REVIEWS/811069998
/1023(Accessedon6/2/12)
Crowther,B.(1948)Rope.In:nytimes.com17.8.48[online]
http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/081748hitch-rope-review.html(Accessedon6/2/12)
ListofIllustrations
Fig.1.RopeFilmPoster From:RopeDirectedby:AlfredHitchcock.[filmposter]USA:WarnerBros.
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