Motifs In Alfred Hitchcock's Film Strangers On A Train
This paper will discuss the motif of the double in Strangers on a Train. While the double is a recurring motif in Hitchcock’s work that he routinely employs in order to explore questions of moral responsibility, identity, and guilt, it receives its most overt and thorough treatment in Strangers on a Train. Studies of the film have consistently understood Bruno as a stand in for Guy’s unspoken desire, the chaos held at bay by societal order - Guy does indeed want to ‘get rid of’ his wife, but he transfers this responsibility (and associated guilt) to Bruno (Walker; Wood; Dellolio; Truffaut). As Walker notes, in Hitchcock’s films, the double most often serves as an ‘alter ego’ that enacts the repressed/disavowed/unpermitted desires of another character. Indeed, as Walker points out, There is little ambiguity that this is precisely what Hitchcock meant to communicate in the film, as he has formally stated this in correspondence with Francois Truffaut: Truffaut: “This picture [...] is systematically built around the figure ‘two’. Here [as in Shadow of a Doubt], both characters might very well have had the same name. Whether it’s Guy or Bruno, it’s …show more content…
The only kind of doubles I play’. Guy also pulls out a lighter for Bruno that features a crossed pair of tennis rackets and is engraved ‘A to G’, which, it is quickly established, stands for ‘Anne’ (Guy’s wife-in-waiting) to ‘Guy’, although it could just as easily be read as (Bruno) ‘Anthony’ to ‘Guy’. The meeting ends with Bruno’s suggestion that he and Guy swap murders - ‘criss-cross!’. The coda to the symphony of doubles that opens the film is Hitchcock’s cameo as a passenger boarding a train with a double bass as Guy
Ruby Moon Codes And Conventions
768 Words | 4 PagesRuby Moon A mesmerizing and haunting tale , little Ruby Moon disappears without a trace from her Australian suburbia home and leaves her parents, Ray (Matthew Filkins) and Sylvie (Mary Eggleston), absolutely distraught. Written by Matt Cameron in 2003 Ruby Moon is a contemporary Australian play that explores dramatic forms, techniques and conventions from theatre styles such as Australian Gothic and Magical Realism. Although originally directed by Helen Howard for QMF, Dan Evans came along and took on the challenge as a director to make this Ruby Moon his own.
Analysis Of Alfred Hitchcock's Caddyshack
408 Words | 2 Pageshurt with Chevy Chase, Rodney Dangerfield, and Bill Murray in the comedy Caddyshack, and see life from the eyes of mob henchmen, Tom Hanks, in the crime and gangster film Road to Perdition. American cinema has used Alfred Hitchcock to create fear for many years like it was displayed in the horror film Psycho, has allowed us to sing in dance with the cast in the musical Chicago, and check out, momentarily, from reality in many science fiction films. American cinema has taken us back in time as we rode horse-back with our western heroes John Wayne and Clint Eastwood or put on the badge with the brothers of the law in Tombstone. Some of the greatest impacts from the world of cinema have been from films that covered war.
Polarity In Cyrano De Bergerac
540 Words | 3 PagesEdmond Rostand’s comedic play Cyrano de Bergerac recounts the tragic heartbreak of an unsightly French poet as he aids his handsome but dull cohort Christian in capturing the heart of the beautiful Roxane. Cyrano de Bergerac, a colossal-nosed man with a masterful talent for wielding both words and sword, battles self-doubt and insecurity as he contends with his own feelings of love for Roxane. Throughout the play, Rostand reveals a stark polarity between Cyrano and Christian, illuminating the gaping disparity between the characters’ appearance and intellect while portraying the men as foils for each other. From the play’s beginning, Rostand’s audience becomes keenly aware of the divergence between Cyrano’s intellectual substance and Christian’s physical attributes. While Cuigy pronounces Christian “a charming head,” the character describes himself as “...far from bright” (Rostand 1.4-5).
Symbolism And Motifs In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
672 Words | 3 PagesRear Window by Alfred Hitchcock is a fillm full of symbolism and motifs that provides viewers with a bigger meaning. It shows these rhetorical appeals through Hitchcok’s eyes that would not be recognized if not analyzed. Through these appeals I have recognized the window as being a symbol and marriage and binoculars as motifs. After understanding much more than what the eye anitially sees when viewing this film there is a fine line between understanding what is going on in the film and observing what the protagonist Jeff is viewing.
Ethical Issues In Rear Window
873 Words | 4 PagesRear Window Argues that people should mind their own business. Do you agree? Rear Window, a 1954 romance/murder-mystery by the renowned golden age director Alfred Hitchcock, is a film that explores a multitude of themes and genres through the voyeuristic gaze of protagonist L.B. Jefferies. Jefferies, or ‘Jeff’ as he commonly known throughout the film, is a middle-aged bachelor recently hospitalised due to his high-risk career as a photojournalist. This hindered condition serves as an important foundation on which the movie is built upon as Jeff’s forced lifestyle being in a wheelchair causes an abrupt stop in his usual high intensity way of life and causes him to quench his boredom in other ways, predominantly watching the other residents in his apartment complex through the ‘rear window’ of his apartment.
Relationships In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
827 Words | 4 PagesAlfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window has several themes. One major theme is relationships. The lead character, Jeff Jeffries, a photographer and committed bachelor, is involved in a relationship with Lisa Fremont, a model, although the relationship has some tension due to Jeff’s lack of commitment. When Jeff is confined to his apartment recovering from a broken leg, he begins spying through his rear window on his neighbors in a nearby apartment. Through her frequent visits, Lisa is drawn into this spying as well.
Psychological Analysis Of Thomas Shelley's 'Red Dragon'
1415 Words | 6 PagesSerial killing is a kind of macabre art perfected by psychopaths, who are either on a pleasure trip or a trial of revenge, who kills at least three victims one by one in a series of sequential murders, with a form of psychological gratification as the primary motive. There is a deep connection between the actions and the psychology of a serial killer. Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon (1981) is a crime thriller and features a serial killer whose cleft lip is the primary factor motivating his murderous behaviour. With particular attention to the image of the mirror, this assignment is concerned with offering a psychoanalytic reading of the novel, through the Lacanian concept of the mirror stage. It also aims to analyse the reasons and motives of the serial killer Francis Dolarhyde in the light of psychological theories like psychoanalysis and behavioural theory.
Sunset Boulevard Film Analysis
1617 Words | 7 PagesMise-en-scéne is crucial to classical Hollywood as it defined an era ‘that in its primary sense and effect, shows us something; it is a means of display. ' (Martin 2014, p.XV). Billy Wilder 's Sunset Boulevard (Wilder 1950) will be analysed and explored with its techniques and styles of mise-en-scéne and how this aspect of filmmaking establishes together as a cohesive whole with the narrative themes as classical Hollywood storytelling. Features of the film 's sense of space and time, setting, motifs, characters, and character goals will be explored and how they affect the characterisation, structure, and three-act organisation.
The Role Of Haines In Film
140 Words | 1 PagesFilm director Alfred Hitchcock boards the train while lead character Haines gets off, at the beginning of Strangers on a Train, 1951 A cameo role or cameo appearance (/ˈkæmioʊ/; often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance or voice part of a known person in a work of the performing arts, typically unnamed or appearing as themselves. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly either appearances in a work in which they hold some special significance (such as actors from an original movie appearing in its remake), or renowned people making uncredited appearances. Short appearances by celebrities, film directors, politicians, athletes or musicians are common. A crew member of the show or movie playing
Alfred Hitchcock Rear Window Analysis
1431 Words | 6 PagesIn this essay, I will discuss how the film is about film itself. The notions of gaze will also be analysed, through a discussion of voyeurism and Jeff and Lisa’s relationship. This brilliant film about watching the neighbours simultaneously represents a self-reflexive film about the cinema and filmmaking. “[…] Jeff embodies the activity and passivity of both the film maker and the spectator; the director creates and waits, while the viewer
Psychological Themes In Alfred Hitchcock's Horror Film Psycho
774 Words | 4 PagesHowever, film critic, Robin Wood, argues that ‘since Psycho, the Hollywood cinema has implicitly recognised horror as both American and familial’ he then goes on to connect this with Psycho by claiming that it is an “innovative and influential film because it supposedly presents its horror not as the produce of forces outside American society, bit a product of the patriarchal family which is the fundamental institution of American society” he goes on to discuss how our civilisation either represses or oppresses (Skal, 1994). Woods claim then suggests that in Psycho, it is the repressions and tensions within the normal American family which produces the monster, not some alien force which was seen and suggested throughout the 1950 horror films. At the beginning of the 60’s, feminisation was regarded as castration not humanization. In “Psycho” (1960) it is claimed that the film presents conservative “moral lessons about gender roles of that the strong male is healthy and normal and the sensitive male is a disturbed figure who suffers from gener confusion” (Skal, 1994). In this section of this chapter I will look closely at how “Psycho” (1960) has layers of non-hetro-conforming and gender-non conforming themes through the use of Norman Bates whose gender identitiy is portrayed as being somewhere between male and female
Alfred Hitchcock's Use Of Suspense In The 39 Steps
856 Words | 4 PagesAfter watching The 39 Steps (1935), I realized that Alfred Hitchcock really did have a talent for establishing suspense through films. Even though suspense was the primary focus, Hitchcock managed to effectively and intelligently mix humor, romance, and thriller. He uses a variety of techniques to convey these feelings to the audience. According, to some of his interviews with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock mentions his love for The 39 Steps, specifically about the techniques he uses to create a bewitching experience throughout the film. In this film, he uses a variety of themes that he continued to constantly use throughout his later films.
Essay On Double Indemnity
1504 Words | 7 PagesIn this sense, Double Indemnity is a classic Film Noir film. It is a story of two ill-fated lovers lured by lust and greed to commit a heinous act: murder. The main focus of the film (and of this essay) is on Walter Neff and Phyllis Dietrichson and how Phyllis uses Neff. Phyllis is painted in a sympathetic light at the beginning of the film but, by the end, her true natures of corruption are revealed to all. The things that tell the most about Neff and Phyllis are their performances, specifically how they react to either dialogue or sound, and their character blocking.
Aesthetic Of Astonishment Analysis
1441 Words | 6 PagesIn “Aesthetic of Astonishment” essay, Gunning argues how people first saw cinema, and how they are amazed with the moving picture for the first time, and were not only amazed by the technological aspect, but also the experience of how the introduction of movies have changed the way people perceive the reality in a completely different way. Gunning states that “The astonishment derives from a magical metamorphosis rather than a seamless reproduction of reality”(118). He uses the myth of how the sacred audience run out the theater in terror when they first saw the Lumiere Brother Arrival of the train. However, Gunning does not really care how hysterical their reaction is, even saying that he have doubts on what actually happened that day, as for him it the significance lied on the incidence--that is, the triggering of the audience’s reaction and its subsequence results, and not the actual reactions and their extent. It is this incident, due to the confusion of the audience’s cognition caused by new technology, that serves as a significant milestone in film history which triggered in the industry and the fascination with film, which to this day allows cinema to manipulate and
The Diary Of A Madman Character Analysis
861 Words | 4 PagesIt can be quite easy to make assumptions about one’s character upon first glance or first encounter, but often these first assumptions are not a direct representation of a person’s true disposition. In the short story, “The Diary of a Madman” by Guy de Maupassant, an esteemed magistrate is being remembered for the model citizen he was, having lived a life that no one could subject to criticism. However, a notary uncovered his diary in a drawer in his home, in which he entailed his tendencies and cravings for murder that no one had expected of him. Within this text, the author uses the character of the magistrate to convey the theme that one’s true character cannot be decided from external appearance or actions. From the beginning of the text, it is made evident that this man was revered as the most well-respected judge in all of France.
More about Motifs In Alfred Hitchcock's Film Strangers On A Train
Ruby Moon Codes And Conventions
768 Words | 4 PagesAnalysis Of Alfred Hitchcock's Caddyshack
408 Words | 2 PagesPolarity In Cyrano De Bergerac
540 Words | 3 PagesSymbolism And Motifs In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
672 Words | 3 PagesEthical Issues In Rear Window
873 Words | 4 PagesRelationships In Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window
827 Words | 4 PagesPsychological Analysis Of Thomas Shelley's 'Red Dragon'
1415 Words | 6 PagesSunset Boulevard Film Analysis
1617 Words | 7 PagesThe Role Of Haines In Film
140 Words | 1 PagesAlfred Hitchcock Rear Window Analysis
1431 Words | 6 PagesPsychological Themes In Alfred Hitchcock's Horror Film Psycho
774 Words | 4 PagesAlfred Hitchcock's Use Of Suspense In The 39 Steps
856 Words | 4 PagesEssay On Double Indemnity
1504 Words | 7 PagesAesthetic Of Astonishment Analysis
1441 Words | 6 PagesThe Diary Of A Madman Character Analysis
861 Words | 4 Pages