Rope (1948)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Rope (1948) – A. Hitchcock

Hitchcock’s first film in colour is widely known as an early experiment in shooting a film in just one shot.  Of course, there have been many examples of this technical feat more recently (for example, Russian Ark, 2002) – and, in fact, due to limitations of cameras of the day, Hitch could only achieve 10 minute takes before the camera had to be reloaded (resulting in shots that ended and began with the camera pointing directly at someone’s back.  Nevertheless, Hitch organised his takes with a series of travelling shots that still manage to adhere to his theory (stated in Hitchcock/Truffaut) that varies “the size of the image in relation to its emotional importance within a given episode”. The story, drawn from a play by Patrick Hamilton, begins with two young men (based on real life killers Leopold and Loeb) strangling a third young man in their apartment.  After they hide the body in a trunk, they invite friends, his girlfriend and his parents included, over for a party.  They also invite their old college professor played by Jimmy Stewart, believing that he has espoused some theories (similar to those of Nietzsche perhaps) that identify that certain people may be naturally superior and therefore be entitled to engage in certain behaviours, even murder, that set them apart from the rest of humanity. Of course, Brandon (if not Philip) assumes this mantle of superiority for himself and even imagines that Rupert (Stewart) will applaud the heinous act he/they have committed.  Stewart gives a very weird performance, fully inhabiting a much more awkward and perhaps slightly sinister character than he usually does (apart from his Westerns or Vertigo) – but in the end he becomes suspicious and the movie follows Hitch’s usual designs around creating suspense (but not surprise) since viewers know more than the protagonist does.  A compact film (given the burden of the continuous take) but still fully in line with the Master’s oeuvre, even if it doesn’t quite attain the heights of his great masterworks.