rope (1948)

a surprisingly early hitchcock work (i genuinely thought it was made in the late fifties, even after the viewing), "rope" is a murder based thriller with a difference. rather than building to the moment of action or at least dragging some drama or statement out of the literal act, the killing in this film takes place in an instant just as the credits have finished rolling. in fact, the way in which all human activity seemingly begins on cue as the final name (alfred hitchcock obviusly...) on the credits rolls by, suggests a great deal. the theatrical notion of the performance begining is apparent, with a clockwork-like moment taking place.

when initially seeing the film literally opening with the murder i instantly presumed that this must have been a reaction of sorts to his critics. ''perhaps the hitchcock method seemed tired or out of date?" i thought, figuring that the drastically different structure was his way of hitting back at those who theoretically spoke out. this was the obvious conclussion that i came to, having most recently viewed "the birds", "shadow of a doubt" and "rear window", all three coming before "rope" i thought. i was shocked to discover that only "shadow of a doubt" came before, and so the reaction that i presumed was an invention of my own thought. needless to say, "rope" is an interesting counterweight to his other work, its almost like a hitchcock film in reverse. instead of the usual build of suspense though we are left with another, one of impending doom for the characters involved. we know the problem, now we await the consequence.

with its (at the time) revolutionary editing, used in a manner to project the concept that the narrative takes place in one continuous shot it could be said that "rope" is hitchcock's most experimental work. again the slow paced nature of "rope" compares interestingly to some of the key scenes in his later work (the bird attacks of "the birds", the shower scene in "psycho").

one of the most unusual aspects of "rope" is that the traditional protagonist of the piece doesnt show up until almost half an hour into the film. hitchcock would later reverse this technique by killing off his "star" name just 30 minutes into "psycho".

"rope" is incredibly self-referential a film. the scenes in which the characters discuss ingrid bergman and company are a sly aside, showing hitchcock's canny wit. the mention of freud could be seen as hitchcock addressing one of the subtle underlying themes from "shadow of a doubt", or, more likely, its critics.

at times the film is highly reminiscent of its theatrical origins, yet at others it is incredibly cinematic. for example the scene whereby james stewart's 'rupert cadell' gives the breakdown of how he would have commited the crime. the camera leads the story, implicating each of the relevent items involved in the act. this reminds heavily of the camerawork later seen in "rear window", and is incredibly visual filmmaking. the lighting at the end of the film, as the friends' plan falls apart is incredibly effective too, in spite of the basic nature. the neon signs used to "colour" the breakdown of philip morgan show literally his being tipped over the edge of sanity. later on in the same scene, the same lights offer a comforting glow, as the film winds down.