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.