Film review - Rope (1948)

Figure 1. Rope film poster

Released in 1948 and directed by Alfred Hitchcock 'Rope' is a film well known for its seamless transitions and Hitchcock's clever use of giving the audience more information to create tension. 

The whole film is set in one location, which is the apartment of Philip Morgon (Farley Granger) and Brandon Shaw (John Dall). This causes the viewer to feel claustrophobic as it is like they are unable to escape what is happening in the scene and are watching everything unfold before their eyes. 

Figure 2. Mrs Wilson clearing the chest

Figure 3. Mrs Wilson and Rupert opening the chest

As Hitchcock has made the film seem seamless as though it is unfolding before the eyes of the viewer, the viewer is able to collect information from each character, making it as though the viewer is omniscient which in turn creates more tension. 'Hitchcock's camera was loaded with 10-minute reels, and had to duck behind an actor's back, or a piece of furniture, to "invisibly" cut from one piece of film to the next. This clunkiness can be part of the film's claustrophobic strength though: the coffin-chest is rarely out of shot, and the camera follows the actors around every square inch of the confined set.' (Hutchinson, 2012)

Other examples of this are when Philip and Brandon's maid Mrs. Wilson starts to clear food off of the top of the chest in which David Kentley is in. In this scene the chest is continually in shot and, while a group of the characters are talking off to the right of the camera, the audience are more focused on whether Mrs. Wilson will open the chest and find David's body. There is also another scene where both Mrs Wilson and Rupert begin to open the chest before Philip runs over to stop them, at this point the viewer's heart is in their mouth anticipating the character's reactions. 'Once the characters have entered the room, there can’t be any jumps in time, or the suspense will be lost. The audience must know that the body is always right there in the trunk.' (Ebert, 1984)

Bibliography:

Hutchinson, P. (2012). My favourite Hitchcock: Rope. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/27/my-favourite-hitchcock-rope [Accessed 21 Jan. 2018].

Ebert, R. (1984). Rope Movie Review & Film Summary (1948) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rope-1948 [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018].


Illustrations list:

Figure 1. (1948) Rope. https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/402087072950689674/ [Accessed on: 21 Jan 2018]

Figure 2. (1948) Rope. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZx30AX9p24 [Accessed on: 21 Jan 2018]

Figure 3. (1948) Rope. https://theironcupcake.wordpress.com/tag/alfred-hitchcock/ [Accessed on: 21 Jan 2018]