Fear of Falling
Introduction to the book 'Alfred Hitchcock. The Complete Films', by Paul Duncan
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Pauline Kael, the doyenne of film criticism, wrote: 'It could even be argued, I think, that Hitchcock's uniformity, his mastery of tricks, and his cleverness at getting audiences to respond according to his calculations - the feedback he wants and gets from them - reveal not so much a personal style as a personal theory of audience psychology, that his methods and approach are not those of an artist but a prestidigitator.' Was Hitchcock nothing more than a clever conjuror?
Hitchcock once said: "I don't put my personal feelings into pictures." When approaching an analysis of Hitchcock's films, and indeed any story, it is best to apply D. H. Lawrenc e's advic e: 'Never trust the teller. Trust the tale.' The thoughts and concerns of the teller are woven into the tale, whether the teller knows it or not.
In The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud wrote, 'Dreams of falling are more frequently characterised by anxiety.' Hitchcock must have been very anxious because as James Wolcott wrote, 'Of all his motifs and signature strokes (staircases, keys, birds), the one I find most intriguing is his fascination with falling. Steep falls were his dramatic crescendos.' A quick survey of Hitchcock's films reveals mainly vertiginous situations: on the British Museum in Blackmail; on a cliff in Secret Agent, Suspicion and Spellbound; falling into a mine shaft in Young and Innocent; on the rigging in Jamaica Inn; on the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur; falling from the eponymous Rear Window; on the roof in To Catch a Thief; on Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest; and Arbogast falling down the stairs in Psycho. Wolcott points out, 'The falls are usually photographed from a high angle, the camera often focusing on hands clutching one another for dear life, the figure dropping or about to drop into a whirlpool abyss.' The falling motif was central to the plot of Vertigo, where Scottie's fear of heights is used against him. The subtext is that Scottie is afraid of committing to relationships (of falling in love), a common male trait, as observed in Rear Window, North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief. After the death of his idealised love, Madeleine Elster, Scottie uses Judy Barton to obsessively build a replica of his ideal, unaware that Madeleine and Judy are the same person. Just as he overcomes his anxiety about committing to the replica, he discovers Judy's deceit and loses her for a second and final time. She falls for him, both figuratively and literally.
Hitchcock used the tension of opposites to create anxiety in the viewer, as Vertigo demonstrates. In the first half the viewer, like Scottie, is seduced by the elaborate, entwining love story. However, in the second half, we both fear and empathise with Scottie's monstrous actions. It is Hitchcock who has used his technical skill to seduce the viewer into the mind of a madman.
Seite 1 2 3 4 5 6
Seite 1 2 3 4 5 6
Pauline Kael, the doyenne of film criticism, wrote: 'It could even be argued, I think, that Hitchcock's uniformity, his mastery of tricks, and his cleverness at getting audiences to respond according to his calculations - the feedback he wants and gets from them - reveal not so much a personal style as a personal theory of audience psychology, that his methods and approach are not those of an artist but a prestidigitator.' Was Hitchcock nothing more than a clever conjuror?
Hitchcock once said: "I don't put my personal feelings into pictures." When approaching an analysis of Hitchcock's films, and indeed any story, it is best to apply D. H. Lawrenc e's advic e: 'Never trust the teller. Trust the tale.' The thoughts and concerns of the teller are woven into the tale, whether the teller knows it or not.
In The Interpretation of Dreams, Sigmund Freud wrote, 'Dreams of falling are more frequently characterised by anxiety.' Hitchcock must have been very anxious because as James Wolcott wrote, 'Of all his motifs and signature strokes (staircases, keys, birds), the one I find most intriguing is his fascination with falling. Steep falls were his dramatic crescendos.' A quick survey of Hitchcock's films reveals mainly vertiginous situations: on the British Museum in Blackmail; on a cliff in Secret Agent, Suspicion and Spellbound; falling into a mine shaft in Young and Innocent; on the rigging in Jamaica Inn; on the Statue of Liberty in Saboteur; falling from the eponymous Rear Window; on the roof in To Catch a Thief; on Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest; and Arbogast falling down the stairs in Psycho. Wolcott points out, 'The falls are usually photographed from a high angle, the camera often focusing on hands clutching one another for dear life, the figure dropping or about to drop into a whirlpool abyss.' The falling motif was central to the plot of Vertigo, where Scottie's fear of heights is used against him. The subtext is that Scottie is afraid of committing to relationships (of falling in love), a common male trait, as observed in Rear Window, North by Northwest and To Catch a Thief. After the death of his idealised love, Madeleine Elster, Scottie uses Judy Barton to obsessively build a replica of his ideal, unaware that Madeleine and Judy are the same person. Just as he overcomes his anxiety about committing to the replica, he discovers Judy's deceit and loses her for a second and final time. She falls for him, both figuratively and literally.
Hitchcock used the tension of opposites to create anxiety in the viewer, as Vertigo demonstrates. In the first half the viewer, like Scottie, is seduced by the elaborate, entwining love story. However, in the second half, we both fear and empathise with Scottie's monstrous actions. It is Hitchcock who has used his technical skill to seduce the viewer into the mind of a madman.
Seite 1 2 3 4 5 6
