Rope (1948)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger


Review:

Remember the stupid villain in novels, movies, tv shows comics and animations, who did his bad deeds but thought it was too boring to totally cover it up, left some sort of evidence as a taunt or challenge to the good guy, and became the downfall of him? Well there is two of those in this movie, and we know that right from the start. But we cant really blame them because this movie probably the first to give the villains such stupid ideas. Another reason you cant blame them because this movie is so great that you accept their stupidity so that you can watch this film.

David got kill in 2 minutes after film starts, counting from the Universal trailer.

Brandon and Philip killed their schoolmate David in their house, and hid his body inside a chest, because they think they are superior and David is inferior, a convenient reason to have a killing spree for the audience in countless movies. To make things funnier, Brandon held a party to invite their friends in their house will David's body hidden, but the teacher Rupert, played by James Stewart, already felt fishy.

Brandon explains to Rupert what is that occation to have champagne with stupid reaons.

What makes this movie so great is the pacing and the imitation of the stars. Right after the opening credit we saw David got killed. This might be one of the fastest death in movies I have ever seen. Philip is freaked out and scared. Brandon look enjoyed and want to play it cool, but he also freaked since you see his hands shaking and stutters, and feel his tense. Along the way the guests tested their nerves, in which David slowly breaks down and the tension between Brandon and David grows.

Rupert spotted something not right.

James Stewart plays the clever detective role and picked out the strange things. He is more sober and less talkative than I have seen him in Read Window (1954). He also looked older too, probably to better match with the character. He stares and hestiates to remind us in such a natural way the mistakes Brandon and Philip had made. The final showdown between him and the murderers are also beautiful. He knew all the things by then but he had to play stupid, since he suspected Brandon had a gun in his pocket. But he could not back away since he wanted to know what happened to the victim and to expose their crime. The moral conflict effectively transcents to the audience by the acting.

Humanity lecture. Yes but no thanks.

My only complain of the movie is towards the end we got about 5 minutes of lecture on human equality, that nobody is to decide who is superior and all of that crap. By then it was probably referring to the Nazis, but now we have been fed of this so many times we are sick of it. Yes I got it and I agree, but I do not like to be lectured.

This is probably my second favourate Hitchcock movie, the first being North by Northwest (1959). Both are fast paced and intense, but I prefer the humour of the Cary Grant character just a little more. While I love other Hitchcock movie like Vertigo (1958),  I appreciate the simple set and plot and the drama Rope creates.