Rope 1948

Fig 1. Movie Poster.

Alfred Hitchock’s 1948 psychological crime feature film adapted from the 1929 play Rope takes place in one set location, the protagonists Brandon and Philip’s apartment with a Manhattan skyline in the background (see fig 2). The film begins with Philip strangling his long term friend David alongside the dominant Brandon using a rope in their apartment with the curtains drawn and putting his body in a chest until they can dispose of it later in the meantime they host a dinner party with David’s nearest and dearest, “the killing taking place inside obscured by drawn curtains, shows not just the director’s awareness of the small space separating life and death” (Croce, 2006).

Fig 2. Set and Skyline.

The plot itself is a suspenseful one as the audience are not invited to be detectives or follow a detective’s case via the camera, but are omniscient thanks to the personification of the camera, it doesn’t just stay fixated on characters, but tracks and pans on objects too. Hitchcock explicitly reveals all parts of the mystery to us and we watch the aftermath of a murder rather than what triggers a killer to commit the crime in the first place (although that is explained at the end). Like Hutchinson says “Murder in the movies is usually more about motive than consequence.” (Hutchinson, 2012). The suspense is built as we watch other characters’ suspicions triggered and watch them figure bits here and there which hooks us with the main question on everyone’s minds - will Brandon and Philip get caught?

The set subconsciously creates tension as it keeps the theme of confinement, the chest is almost always in sight, everyone confined in one room, it almost locks people into one private space - the answer to their question sitting right in front of them locked away. The characters are trapped and so is the audience. Another connotation of locking is the structure of the movie - it’s supposed to be a one take/continuous film - it’s very close to real time where as most films fit weeks/months/years into a couple hours this is enforced by the gradual change from day to night time in the background (see fig 2). Hitchcock was ahead of his time in doing this as cameras then could only record 10 minutes maximum of footage so he would end the footage on an object or zoomed in on a characters back mid pan.

The characteristics of Brandon reflect that of Hitchcock, he’s like an alter ego. Brandon sees himself as God to believe he has the right to decide who lives and who dies, Hitchcock before has suggested the role of a director is like that of God for film. “Hitchcock is torturing his audience, for sure, but he is also parading his own cleverness, and like Brandon, on some level he wants to be found out, too.” (Hutchinson, 2012). The characters themselves play a vital role in creating suspense, Philip is the underdog of Brandon and has morals, he’s always on the edge of buckling but Brandon being the dominant authoritative one shuts him down.

Brandon’s self righteous ego and confidence is what makes him so playful with the relatives about the suspicions of David’s whereabouts, he messes with their curiosity all the while knowing David is in the very same room however when Rupert catches on, he returns to the apartment and outsmarts Brandon all the while Brandon still seems to think he remains invincible. Rupert finds David’s hat, he catches onto Philip’s strange behaviour and questions about his chicken strangling done in the past and he observes Philip’s reaction to Brandon parading the murder weapon.

Fig 3. Rope and Books

Suspension techniques other than the camera and dialogue are used to build tension for example when Rupert interrogates Philip he plays with a metronome, he enhances the awareness of heartbeats when he does this and it naturally puts people on edge when they become self aware, self awareness is what gives liars away. That and before Rupert fires a gun three times out the window to summon the cops, the lighting used is an instant foreshadow, red lights - danger, flashing suggests immediacy. Green lights suggest goodness, which shines over Brandon once he realises he’s been defeated. Brandon takes Rupert’s word in saying that rules do not apply to superior and are put in place for the inferior as permission to kill Brandon, “Killing a man, and getting away with it, too, just to feed one's own intellectual vanity, is a hideous, amoral stunt” (Hutchinson, 2012). 

Fig 4. Green Lights.

Bibliography:

Croce, F.F. (2006) Rope film review. At: http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/rope (Accessed on 22 January 2017)

Hutchinson, P. (2012) ‘My favourite Hitchcock: Rope’ In: The Guardian [online] At: https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/27/my-favourite-hitchcock-rope (Accessed on 22 January 2017)

Illustration List:

Figure 1. Rope Movie Poster. (1948) [Poster] (1948). FilmAffinity. At: http://www.filmaffinity.com/es/reviews/1/425873.html (Accessed on 22 January 2017)

Figure 2. Rope Set Manhattan Skyline. (1948) (2014). Próxima Sessão. At: https://proximasessao.wordpress.com/2014/11/02/festim-diabolico/ (Accessed on 22 January 2017)

Figure 3. Camera’s Focus On Objects. (1948) (2014) At: http://ayunie-adiana.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/cutting-edge-film-programme-rope-1948.html (Accessed on 22 January 2017)

Figure 4. Youtube. (1948) Rope 1948 Greenlight. [Film Still] (2016) YouTube. YouTube. At: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93Gpm6kLZLk (Accessed on 22 January 2017)