Alfred Hitchcock
As a cinematographer, I see Alfred Hitchcock as one
of the most influential people in the history of the silver screen. My synopsis
of his films, however, will be through the eyes of a young man that has
witnessed tragedy. I could sit and rant and rave about how Hitchcock was a great
director, his films were awesome, etc., but I’ll spare you of that.
I would
much rather discuss the attack, but since I must write this paper about his
cinema work, I’ll try and compare the two movies we watched to the situation.
I’ll start first with Rear Window. Rear Window is a film that deals not only
with the human instinct of voyeurism, but also with the sheer animalistic sadism
that can be found deep within our natures. Rear Window demonstrated both of
these observances, by showing most of the film through the eyes of a innocent
bystander, an injured man who was simply trying to pass the time. We could
compare Jimmy Stewart’s character to ever American on the morning of September
11, 2001. We were all going about our business, when all of the sudden we
noticed an outburst of xtreme brutality. In the end of the film, we see the
group try and solve the puzzle by sending Grace Kelly’s character to investigate
the apartment. We could also relate this to what the United State’s government
is trying to do at this very moment; rummaging through the apartment of death to
try and find anything that would be helpful in solving this catastrophe. All in
all, I think Rear Window, one of the first of Hitchcock’s great films, is a
picture that really somewhat contradicts it’s self by having two inconsistent
themes: The innocence of the average human being, but also how that same
supposedly innocent human being can be so cruel and vicious.
Hitchcock had a
tendency to make contradictions in his films, not in the films themselves, but
in the underlying messages that those films carry. Take Psycho for example; it
shows that even though we may suspect that someone or something has malevolent
intentions, we are still shocked when they/it actually does something malevolent
(as in the case of Norman Bates’ mother). We can see this like the attack on the
World Trade Center itself. We didn’t expect such a sophisticated attack, but we
knew there was evil afoot. Yet after it happened we were still astounded when
those two planes rocketed into the side of the Twin Towers.
North By
Northwest, however, is a movie we should be looking to for hope and inspiration
in a time like this. I do believe that this was not only Hitchcock’s greatest
films, but also one of the greatest films of all time. I think every human has
that fear of being pulled into a situation that they truly aren’t a part of,
such as we see in Carrie Grant’s character. When we look at a situation like
that, someone’s world just turning upside down, we should respectfully think of
the families of those that were killed in the bombings yesterday, for their
worlds have truly been turned inside out. We also see in the movie help from the
least expected of allies, even those who stated that they would do nothing about
it. We can compare that to the phone calls and press conferences that many of
the countries have offered to us, even those who had spited us before (such as
Iran). We know, however that there is always hope when we look at a movie such
as this. We know that the good guy will always win in the movies, and that can
give us a sense of hope and security, all be it a small sense. I can think of
nothing greater than the inspiration we can get when we have someone at our
backs, and the entire world seems to be telling us that they’re on our side,
just like the government agency was on Carrie Grant’s side in North By
Northwest. We can also take from the movie that even though the bad guy my get
away, that we can stop him.
Alfred Hitchcock was a pioneer. He was so ahead
of the rest of the filmmakers of his era, that he could see that human nature
would be the cause of most of the problems facing the future. He knew that by
making films that dealt with experiences that we either have been through, don’t
want to go through, or can only think about being through. The master of
suspense took elements that, up until yesterday, scared the daylights out of us.
We thought that the things Hitchcock made films about were just fiction to
strike fear into our hearts. We thought that none of the themes of his movies
would actually become parts of every day real life. We thought too much. All of
our thoughts came crashing down with the Twin Towers yesterday morning. Our
hearts go out to everyone who had family in the Pentagon and in the World Trade
Center. Let God bless all of them. I, for one, cannot believe the scenes I’ve
been seeing on the T.V. It’s like watching a film in itself, like it’s not real.
I do know, however, that as an American, and as a cinematographer, that I will
keep trying to watch the news, and keep up on the developments.
Hitchcock is
like a myth more than a man. We could only think about what he would say about
something like this, but I would imagine he would have made a great film about
it, exposing the injustice of terrorism.
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