Fear of Falling
Introduction to the book 'Alfred Hitchcock. The Complete Films', by Paul Duncan
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In Rear Window, we are in the position of Jeff, realising something is wrong, but not being able to do anything about it, being helpless in the wheelchair, as we are helpless in our cinema seats. In Psycho, we are Norman Bates, looking through a hole in the wall at Marion Crane undressing. In this film, more than any other, we are both the villain and the hero, able to switch sides, to satisfy both our civilised and uncouth instincts. According to Robin Wood, 'Hitchcock's complex and disconcerting moral sense, in which good and evil seem to be so interwoven as to be virtually inseparable ... insists on the existence of evil impulses in all of us,' and Hitchcock makes us 'aware, perhaps not quite at the conscious level (it depends on the spectator), of the impurity of our own desires.' We don't just watch his films, we participate in them. As Hitch said, "We are all criminals, we who watc h. We are all Peeping Toms. And we follow the Eleventh Commandment: 'Thou shalt not be found out.'" Hitchcock then generates suspense in his movies by having us believe that our impure desires will be found out.
Hitchcock's strength as a film-maker was that he was able to visualise his subconscious fears and desires and turn them into waking nightmares on the silver screen. Many viewers share his subconscious fears and desires, which is why he will remain in the public consciousness for many years to come.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
In Rear Window, we are in the position of Jeff, realising something is wrong, but not being able to do anything about it, being helpless in the wheelchair, as we are helpless in our cinema seats. In Psycho, we are Norman Bates, looking through a hole in the wall at Marion Crane undressing. In this film, more than any other, we are both the villain and the hero, able to switch sides, to satisfy both our civilised and uncouth instincts. According to Robin Wood, 'Hitchcock's complex and disconcerting moral sense, in which good and evil seem to be so interwoven as to be virtually inseparable ... insists on the existence of evil impulses in all of us,' and Hitchcock makes us 'aware, perhaps not quite at the conscious level (it depends on the spectator), of the impurity of our own desires.' We don't just watch his films, we participate in them. As Hitch said, "We are all criminals, we who watc h. We are all Peeping Toms. And we follow the Eleventh Commandment: 'Thou shalt not be found out.'" Hitchcock then generates suspense in his movies by having us believe that our impure desires will be found out.
Hitchcock's strength as a film-maker was that he was able to visualise his subconscious fears and desires and turn them into waking nightmares on the silver screen. Many viewers share his subconscious fears and desires, which is why he will remain in the public consciousness for many years to come.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Alfred Hitchcock
Flexicover, 19.6 x 24.5 cm (7.7 x 9.6 in.), 192 pages
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The perfect panic attack
Still from 'Frenzy' (1972). Brenda Blaney (Barbara Leigh-Hunt) is strangled with a necktie by charming Bob Rusk.