Hitchcock forever
 

Filmele lui Alfred Hitchcock nu ma plictisesc niciodata. Este regizorul pe care-l „frecventez” des, la fel cum se intampla cu Tarkovski, Fellini, Bergman, Kubrick, Antonioni...
S-a spus - si eu cred - ca filmele lui Hitchcock nu sunt altceva decat reflectarea - prin ricoseu artistic – a complexelor si a fobiilor sale... (De fapt, ce altceva poate fi opera unui mare si autentic artist?). Despre maestrul suspansului – va amintiti: sentimentul nelinistii/fricii tot mai mari în fata pericolului necrutator care vine peste tine - circula tot felul de legende si anecdote. Un amestec de realitate si de fabulatie care starneste pentru acest regizor - si asa destul de glorios – un interes si mai mare. Iata doar cateva dintre aceste „intamplari”, culese de mine in saptamana cand am privit 7 filme de Hitchcock.

despre frica pedepsei: la varsta de 7 ani Alfred Hitchcock a fost dat la colegiul iezuit “St. Ignatius” din Londra, unde domnea un regim foarte sever. Pentru neascultare sau alte mici greseli, baietii erau batuti cu o vergea groasa de guma. Dar locul si timpul cand urma sa fie aplicata pedeapsa era ales chiar de cel pedepsit si aceasta amanare a unei pedepse iminente îl teroriza pe copil cateva zile. Poate ca din aceasta asteptare a pedepsei s-a nascut suspansul lui Hitchcock.

despre frica de politisti: o data, în copilarie, pe cand avea vreo 5 ani, tatal l-a pedepsit într-un mod foarte original pe micutul Alfred, trimitandu-l cu un biletel la o circa de politie locala. Politistul a citit biletul scris de domnul William Hitchcock si l-a închis pe copilul „nescultator” într-o celula pentru cateva minute. Tot restul vietii sale Hitchcock s-a temut de politisti si, din aceasta cauza, n-a condus niciodata masina...

despre complexul femeii: Hitchcock suferea din cauza obezitatii sale si era convins ca nici o femeie nu-l va iubi vreodata. A ramas virgin pana s-a casatorit. Cand s-a casatorit, la 25 de ani, n-a mai avut ochi decat pentru sotia sa. Dorintele refulate s-au transformat în complexe pe care Hitchcock le-a „razbunat” într-un mod original în filmele sale, în care imaginea femeii era „concurata” de cutit, zabrele, catuse, foarfece, ghilotina... Mai ales blondele îl înfuriau si-l faceau sa-si piarda cumpatul. Exista o binecunoscuta istorie: Hitchcock statea la un pahar de vorba, dupa lucru, cu un scenarist si dupa mai multe pahare companionul sau rosti numele lui Ingrid Bergman. Regizorul a avut o izbucnire isterica: „Ingrid a fost îndragostita de mine timp de 30 de ani, a fost nebuna dupa mine... Sarea peste mine în pat, plangea, urla...”.

despre frica în fata problemelor vietii cotidiene: Hitchcock era foarte neputincios în fata problemelor vietii cotidiene si nu se descurca deloc fara sotia sa, Alma Reville. O data aceasta s-a retinut mai mult timp la prietena sa, actrita Anne Baxter, întorcandu-se acasa tocmai spre seara. Dupa aceasta întamplare Hitchcock a urat-o într-atat pe Baxter, ca nu i-a mai propus nici un rol în filmele sale.

despre cum Hitchcock nu iubea oamenii si se temea de ei: Din cauza defectelor fizice si a sensibilitatii sale ranite, Hitchcock a fost din copilarie un singuratic si nu se simtea deloc bine printre oameni. Devenind regizor celebru, el evita în mod demonstrativ orice receptie sau petrecere. Distractia sa principala au fost glumele vulgare si de o oarecare cruzime pe seama celorlalti... De pilda, unei actrite care locuia într-o casa cu încalzire centrala, Hitchcock i-a trimis doua tone de carbuni, altei actrite i-a trimis în ziua ei de nastere 400 de pesti afumati, desi stia ca actrita nu suporta mirosul de peste. Pe un cunoscut actor la invitat la un “carnaval” si cand acesta a sosit într-un costum de sultan turc, a constatat cu surprindere ca restul oaspetilor erau îmbracati în smoching. Melanie Griffith îsi aduce aminte cu groaza ca pe cand avea 5 ani, Hitchcock i-a daruit o papusa - pusa într-un mic sicriu de pin - care semana cu mama actritei.

Iata si topul meu din filmografia lui Hitchcock:
1. Vertigo (Ameteala), 1958;
2. North by Northwest (La nord prin nord-vest), 1959;
3. The Birds (Pasarile), 1963;
4. Psycho (Psihoza), 1960;
5. Strangers in a Train (Staini in tren), 1951;
6. Notorious, 1946;
7. Family Plot (Complot de familie), 1976;
8. The 39 Steps (39 de trepte), 1935;
9. Rebecca, 1940;
10. Spellbound (Fascinatie), 1945;

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

Era nevoie de un refresh despre Hitchcock pe CineMagia. Multumim, herbert! 8)


Cred ca pot sa pornesc de la afirmatia asta. Nu stiu cat la suta din filmele Maestrului am vazut (probabil nici jumatate), dar pe aproape fiecare l-as revedea oricand. Favoritele sunt, fara indoiala, "Vertigo", "Psycho" si "Dial M For Murder" (fara sa fie toate pe primele trei pozitii in varful topului). Imi mai plac "Rebecca", The Lady Vanishes", "Rear Window", "Pasarile" si, bineinteles, cine nu adora "North By Northwest", oricat de multe ii reproseaza unii?!

Toate operele semnate Hitch provoaca 'fascinatie', fie ca acesta este hranita de mister, de umor sau de amandoua in acelasi timp. Hitchcock este un cineast al propriilor traume si obsesii, consolidand una dintre cele mai trainice cariere regizorale din aceleasi cateva teme, reluate de fiecare data fara sa-si piarda din farmec.

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

cum am fost patruns de spiritul lui hitchcock, nu mi-am putut stapani impulsul de a aduce o umila contributie snoavelor atat de frumos povestite de herbert:
http://www.rei.org/JPN/Tokyo/Smalls/...imaya-fish.JPG

way to go lui herbert, pt noua abordare a acestui topic pe care il credeam inchis - hitchcock.

kestia de mai sus am citit-o si eu pe imdb, dar n-am inteles niciodata... ce scria pe biletul ala, totusi ??

M-a intrebat cineva ce semnificatie au pasarile din The Birds.

Ceva ce am cules de pe internet acum ceva timp, cand ma fascina mitul lui Pygmalion si treceam din motiv in motiv si simbol in simbol la Hitchcock...


O prima varianta ar fi o conceptie potrivit careia pasarile combina atat elemente masculine cat si feminine, daturita dualismului trasaturilor acestora: pe de o parte pasivitate, delicatete in miscare, pe de cealalta ghearele si ciocurile ascutite. Aceasta conceptie se aplica, insa, mai mult operei lui Hitchcock in general. Pasarile sunt un motiv central al acesteia, iar un alt exemplu celebru este "Psycho", unde - intr-o camera umpluta cu pasari impaiate - Norman Bates ii spune lui Marion(?) ca ciuguleste ca o pasarica (sau ceva de genul). Aici, evident, teoria functioneaza, Bates fiind o pasare de prada, iar Marion (oare asa o chema?) o "pasare" mai delicata, neintalnita (inca) pe peretii criminalului.


Referitor la "Pasarile" exclusiv, vine o alta interpretare... Dafne du Maurier a scris cartea folosindu-se de frica pe care al doilea razboi mondial a indus-o lumii. Hitchcock a schimbat insa acest lucru si si-a concentrat filmul pe personajul feminin, interpretat de Hedren. Si ce surprinde la acest personaj este "perfectiunea", raceala, atitudinea usor intepata, o feminitate care Maestrului ii displacea. Astfel, atacul pasarilor este un mod de a-i detrona superioritatea, de a o deperfectionaliza. Prin folosirea ciocului si a ghearelor (asta in legatura cu interpretarea de mai sus), pasarile o "supun" pe Melanie (?, iarasi).


Bineinteles, mai sunt si alte aspecte ale motivului pasarilor. O pedeapsa asupra omenirii, oare? Sunt interpretari si de ordin psihanalitic (unde Hitch este fascinat de mitul lui Oedip, de exemplu). E m ult de zis...

ii mai spune de asemenea (da, marion crane o chema !) - 'mama mea este la fel de blanda ca si oricare din pasarile astea impaiate'... dar oare asa sa fie ? :shock: chiar din contra !

i guess minrep has an answer for everything. :P

De asta ar fi fost bine sa existe o discutie despre textul lui Umberto Eco privind Suprainterpretarea


Nu vad legatura cu pasarile.Mai probabil ar avea descendenta in mitul lui Prometeu.


Cred ca filmul ar trebui sa aiba o nota de subsol cu trimitere catre Biblie(plagile din Egipt).
P.S.E Melanie.

Pygmalion e din "Vertigo". Din motiv in motiv am ajuns la pasari... Mitul lui Oedip nu este central in "Pasarile" (mai mult in "Psycho", "Strangers on a Train"), dar este amintit in film.

Despre Prometeu, nu stiu... Nu am gasit nimic in aceasta directie, dar e drept... pasari mancand din oameni...


P.S.: Continuarile la "The Birds" - pe care eu nu le-am vazut - pot aduce si alte lamuriri.

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

nu ma pot impiedica: este 'strangers on a train'!

in privinta 'pasarilor', 2 anecdote;
una se leaga de marele claude levi-strauss (antropologul structuralist, blabla), caruia nu i-a placut filmul pt ca - spunea el - 'nu vezi nicaieri o pasare rahatindu-se'... :shock: :lol: :w00t: (kestia asta am pus-o si in txtul din urm. nr. al 'ideilor in dialog'); nu pot decit sa observ ca levi-strauss n-a vazut parodia lui mel brooks - 'high anxiety' - unde pasarile doar asta fac!
a doua e propria 'interpretare' a lui hitch, care ne atragea atentia ca - la-nceputul filmului - pasarile sint in colivii iar oamenii afara, iar la sfirsit este invers... ;)

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

ce-ar fi daca ne-am impiedica toti...
macar unul sa paseasca drept si demn.
thanks.
si o intrebare, ca tot esti poreclit o enciclopedie ambulanta.
e corecta aceasta definitie a lui Godard despre cinema pe care am retinut-o eu candva, undeva, dar nu pot verifica? :)
varianta mea suna asa: "vis cu fata la ecran visat de mai multi oameni in acelasi timp". e ceva impiedicat (de redactat aici)?
multumesc anticipat.

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

Te poti apleca dupa sapun?

Adica ...

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

@nume
se pare ca esti offtopic.
scrii cumva la scenariul "sapunul de la baie" si nu poti iesi din interval/univers? :)
il rog pe MinRep sa dea cu var si peste acest mesaj al meu si sa-i aminteasca lui nume ca la clasici se intra fara intentii de profanare si viol :P

P.S versul din Rene Char e chiar exceptional.

trebuie neaparat sa-l citesc ! :lol: :lol:

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

Da, acest aspect e delicios, dar nu cred ca are alta semnificatie decat ca explicatie a modului in care Hitchcock creeaza frica. Se foloseste de spaimele din adancul sufletului uman, ce par reprimate. Nu stiu daca asa se interpreteaza corect, dar, oricum, i-am dat lui Serghei destule puncte de vedere.

P.S.: Faza din "High Anxiety" e dureroasa (pentru muschii abdominali)... Mai ales mutra lui Brooks la sfarsit cu pasarea-n crestetul capului :lol: ...


@keyser soze: Am sa las unul sau doua mesaje off-topic. Cand apare al treilea, dispare tot... :P

Re: Hitchcock forever
 

M-ai ginit ! :o Ma gandeam sa te distribui in rolul cautatorului aplecat. ":)"
Se pare ca avem un turnator printre noi.

pt herbert

citatul este aproximativ exact (ha! bun oximoronul :lol: ), doar ca nu e de godard, ci de cocteau.
godard are: 'o gindire care formeaza, o forma care gindeste'; contextul in care apare (in 'histoire(s) du cinema'): litere supraimpresionate pe chipul lui pasolini.
'definitia' lui cocteau e o metafora, destul de exacta; cea a lui godard (in retorica se numeste 'chiasm') se vrea o formula - dar e destul de aproximativa...

@ALS
cultura (inclusiv cea cinematografica) este doar ceea ce ramane dupa ce uitam totul.
multumesc.

not quite... este vorba (ca si in 'planeta maimutelor', de exemplu) despre temerile ancestrale ale omului despre rasturnarea lumii cu susul in jos, haosul care va domina lumea s.a. apropo de supraintepretarea de care zicea serghei, am citit undeva si ideea ca, in 'birds', casa in care se baricadeaza tippi hedren si celelalte personaje devine o inchisoare (si stim temerile lui hitchcock legate de pierderea libertatii), de unde si morala ca omul creeaza fara mustrari de constiinta temnite pt orice alta fiinta in afara de el insusi. deep... :)

Pai, da, pe baza acestei teorii, Hithcock creeaza suspans si apoi teama. Dupa mine, "The Birds" nu trebuie privit prea mult in adancime... Sunt prea multe interpretari posibile.

Mda.
Problema suprainterpretarii in cinematograf trebuie privita dintr-o alta perspectiva.Ceaa ce vezi tu ca individ nu e ceea ce exista pe panza.
Cand Cocteau zice ca cinematograful e un vis al mai multor oameni in acelasi timp introduce conceptul de mase(nu e primul da' citatul e la indemana),ori masele nu au cultura,nu cunosc mitul lui Pygmalion,Oedip etc,pt. ele sunt doar niste pasari.Aici e unul din motivele pentru care Hitchcock e cel mai bun,refuzul de a pulsa in profunzimea ideilor,conceptelor,simbolurilor etc. folosite.Exemplul cel mai evident e diferenta dintre modul in care trateaza Hitchcock(Speelbound) si Bergman(Persona) psihanaliza.

Si ca viitoare tema de discutii.Importanta muzicii(mai degraba sunete nenaturaliste) in constructia lui Hitchcock.Incercati sa vedeti un Hitchcock fara sunet.Enjoy the silence ;)

interesant ce spune serghei; se poate merge mai departe pe ideea: hitch creaza un dispozitiv, o schelarie pura & lipsita de reflexivitate (in sensul referinte, simboluri etc) pe care ne-o propune, la modul ludic ('o sa vedeti, o sa va cacati pe voi de frica, va am la degetul mic' 8) ), invitindu-ne sa o umplem cu propria noastra reflexivitate - aia care este, vorba lui v. :oops:
hitch e tipul de cineast 'mineral', aproape transparent, in orice caz de o eleganta fara cusur. comparatia cu bergman nu functioneaza - nu (numai) pt ca i.b. e alt tip de cineast (aglutinant, pastos, auto-referential & simbolic), ci pt ca, la el, reflexivitatea este asumata, manifesta, discursiva kiar - si, ca atare, nu i se poate 'reprosa'... ;)

Pana aici sunt perfect de acord. Arta cinematografica e stranie prin faptul ca imaginile se pot interpreta si rasinterpreta si ca - de la o persoana la alta - variazain functie de ce 'vede' fiecare. Iar daca iei spectatorii ca masa, ei nu sunt interesati de miturile care stau la baza filmelor, ci de valoarea de entertainment a filmului.


Aici, insa, trebuie sa nu fiu de acord. Unele filme ale lui Hitchcock (marile lui capodopere - "Vertigo", "Psycho", "The Birds" dar si altele) fac trimiteri constante la mituri/concepte/tematici, folosind simboluri si motive cinematografice complexe (la "Vertigo" nici nu stiu de unde sa incep... culorile, vartejurile, oglinzile, reflexiile etc.) Insa "ambalajul" este pe gustul publicului. Suspansul, teama, acestea cam iau ochii, incat nu este necesar sa 'sapi adanc' ca sa apreciezi geniul lui Hitchcock. "North By Northwest" - pe care eu il consider o mare capodopera - este insa un film care se hraneste din coerenta regizorala, constructia maiestrala, jocul actorilor si atractia pe care o provoaca in randul publicului, fara sa faca trimitere la nici un concept, la nici o tema de circulatie universala. Poate doar la un "mit" elaborat de Hithcock insusi, celebra tema a omului nevinovat urmarit pe nedrept. :D


P.S.: "Prietenii" de la ProCinema ne ofera iar un maninchi de cateva filme marca Hitch. Azi a fost "I Confess", saptamana viitoare este "Torn Curtain", urmat probabil de "The Birds".

intr-adevar, de exemplu 'the birds' (la fel ca si 'the lady vanishes') este lipsit de muzica. insa scena in care hedren & co. sunt atacati de pasari in casa, sunetele deranjante, aproape metalice, iti creeaza exact sentimentul acela de claustrofobie.

Genericul la "The Birds" e antologic. Croncanituri, sunete metalice (plus ciori zburand). Interesant un titlu: "Cound Consultant (or smth): Bernard Hermann" :P

Totusi, "The Lady Vanishes" e cu muzica... ;)

@Als
Nu e un 'repros'.E ceea ce s-ar numi antiteza.
Cat depre Bergman,avea Diane Keaton niste replici care sumeaza f.bine pararea mea.
@MinRep
Elaboreaza

ce 'replici'?
as fi curios sa vad ce i-a bashit mintea...
pt ca diane keaton, ma scuzi, nu e my idea of an intellectual :?
susan sontag she ain't!!

PS ati vazut 'blackmail'? ;)

Ar trebui poate sa se spuna ceva despre ambientul urban al filmelelor lui Hitchcock .Personajele imi par intoxicate de urbanitate, in sensul in care nu o dimensiune libera, prin care sa migreze.
Innafara de 39 Steps care e o satira cu un pic de horror la adresa castelelor bantuite, Vertigo ,Psycho ,Marnie sau Pasarile sunt de factura urbana. Nu e refugiu dintr-o nevroza in care personajele traiesc,mai toate fug,si fac fapte pe care nu reusesc sa si le explice.
Nu stiu daca e din vina posibilitatilor tehnice ale epocii,sau din traditia filmului de consum american, politist si alb-negru.
Insalubru .

in 'north by north-west', personajul 'urban' are tot cimpul sa 'migreze liber' - si totusi e caught in the trap mai ceva ca-ntr-o camera (... la 'oras' ;) )
a se compara cu finalul - antologic - de la 'duminica la ora 6' al lui pintilie, in care dan nutu este urmarit de masina sigurantei pe plaja, in fata marii: 'libertatea' setting-ului nu-i foloseste, nici lui, la nimic - e incoltit...

PS va-ntrebam de 'blackmail' pt ca e primul film sonor al lui hitch; mai bine zis, jumate mut (prima 1/2), jumate sonor (a 2-a): o experienta de neuitat 8)
l-am dat la cinemateca, acum citiva ani cind am avut 'carte blanche' - cu zece oameni in sala & o copie mizerabila, c/o anf...

Despre "Vertigo" nu sunt sigur, dar la "Psycho" mai mult ca sigur. Desi angoasa provocata de cotidianul urban nu depaseste teroarea creata de Mrs. Bates. La fel ca in "Pasarile" se incearca o evadare din acest spatiu, iar in afara urbanului are loc confruntarea cu temerile, care - credem - se nasc din graba orasului, din nevroze etc.


@Serghei: Hermann (colaborator fidel al lui Hithcock, se stie) a fost luat pe postul de consultant la un film fara muzica, un film care nu serveste drept suport pentru o coloana sonora magnifica, cum a fost in cazul lui "Vertigo" sau "Psycho". Dar ne lasa sa intelegem modul in care Hitchcock a conceput coloana sonora a acestui film, modul in care a gandit efectele sonore, cu scopul de a crea un soundtrack memorabil, infiorator, fara pic de muzica. Mi se pare o realizare exceptionala, de putine ori repetata (cu succes).


@ALS: Din pacate, nu am vazut "Blackmail". Sunt mai multe Hitch-uri pe care nu le-am vazut, dar acesta este printre cele mai dorite.

Te enervezi prea repede.Despre asta era vorba:
Woody Allen:Bergman? Bergman's the only genius in cinema today, I think.
Diane Keaton:It's so funny and his view is so Scandinavian.It's bleak, my God.I mean, all that Kierkegaard, right?Real adolescent, fashionable pessimism.I mean, the silence. God's silence.

Genius or no genius he's just not my style.


Yup.Bun,chiar f.bun.

"okay ! okay!" :) de data asta, se pare ca am fost kiar pe aceeasi lungime de unda, pt ca si eu vroiam sa umblu la 'manhattan', mai ales ca este proaspat vazut. problema este, insa, ca in citatul de fata diane keaton a bagat cele mai mari bull shit-uri despre bergman ever. parerea mea... :hmm: de altfel, nici allen n-a suportat-o prea mult. :D

@ Martalogu

hitchcock insusi a spus ca a vrut sa faca din san francisco un personaj in sine in 'vertigo'. ;)

Despre "Notorious". Interviu cu Hithcock realizat de Francois Truffaut:


"F.T. I'm impatient to get to Notorious because this is truly my favorite Hitchcock picture; at any rate, it's the one I prefer in the black-and-white group. In my opinion, Notorious is the very quintessence of Hitchcock.

"A.H. When I started to work with Ben Hecht on the screenplay for Notorious , we were looking for a MacGuffin [in Hitchcock's world, something that moves the plot along but which the audience really doesn't care about], and as always, we proceeded by trial and error, going off in several different directions that turned out to be too complex. The basic concept of the story was already on hand. Ingrid Bergman was to play the heroine, and Cary Grant was to portray the FBI man who accompanied her to Latin America, where she was to worm her way into the household of a nest of Nazi spies in order to find out what they were up to. Our original intention had been to bring into the story government officials and police agents and to show groups of German refugees training in secret camps in South America with the aim of setting up an enemy army. But we couldn't figure out what they were going to do with the army once it was organized. So we dropped the whole idea in favor of a MacGuffin that was simpler, but concrete and visual: a sample of uranium concealed in a wine bottle.

"At the beginning the producer had given me an old-fashioned story, 'The Song of the Flame,' that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. It was the story of a young woman who had fallen in love with the son of a wealthy New York society woman. The girl was troubled about a secret in her past. She felt that her great love would be shattered if ever the young man or his mother found out about it. What was the secret? Well, during the war, the government counterspy service had approached a theatrical impresario to find them a young actress who would act as an agent; her mission was to sleep with a certain spy in order to get hold of some valuable information. The agent had suggested this young girl and she had accepted the assignment. So now, filled with apprehensions about the whole thing, she goes back to her agent and tells him all about her problem, and he, in turn, tells the whole story to the young man's mother. The story winds up with the aristocratic mother saying, 'I always hoped that my son would find the right girl, but I never expected him to marry a girl as fine as this!'

"So here is the idea for a picture co-starring Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, to be directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Well, after talking it over with Ben Hecht, we decide that the idea we'll retain from this story is that the girl is to sleep with a spy in order to get some secret information. Gradually, we develop the story, and now I introduce the MacGuffin: four or five samples of uranium concealed in wine bottles.

"The producer said, 'What in the name of goodness is that?'

"I said, 'This is uranium; it's the thing they're going to make an atom bomb with.'

"And he asked, 'What atom bomb?'

"This, you must remember, was in 1944, a year before Hiroshima. I had only one clue. A writer friend of mine had told me that scientists were working on a secret project some place in New Mexico. It was so secret that once they went into the plant, they never emerged again. I was also aware that the Germans were conducting experiments with heavy water in Norway. So these clues brought me to the uranium MacGuffin. The producer was skeptical, and he felt it was absurd to use the idea of an atom bomb as the basis for our story. I told him that it wasn't the basis for the story, but only the MacGuffin, and I explained that there was no need to attach too much importance to it.

"Finally I said, 'Look, if you don't like uranium, let's make it industrial diamonds, which the Germans use to cut their tools with.' And I pointed out that if it had not been a wartime story, we could have hinged our plot on the theft of diamonds, that the gimmick was unimportant.

"Well, I failed to convince the producers, and a few weeks later the whole project was sold to RKO. In other words, Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant, the script, Ben Hecht, and myself, we were sold as a package.

"There's something else I should tell you about this uranium MacGuffin. It happened four years after Notorious was released. I was sailing on the Queen Elizabeth, and I ran into a man called Joseph Hazen, who was an associate of producer Hal Wallis. He said to me, 'I've always wanted to find out where you got the idea for the atom bomb a year before Hiroshima. When they offered us the Notorious script, we turned it down because we thought it was such a goddamn foolish thing to base a movie on.'

"There was another incident that took place prior to the shooting of Notorious . Ben Hecht and I went over to the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena to meet Dr. Millikan, at that time one of the leading scientists in America. We were shown into his office, and there in a corner was a bust of Einstein. Very impressive. The first question we asked him was: 'Dr. Millikan, how large would an atom bomb be?'

"He looked at us and said, 'You want to have yourselves arrested and have me arrested as well?' Then he spent an hour telling us how impossible our idea was, and he concluded that if only they could harness hydrogen, then that would be something. He thought he had succeeded in convincing us that we were barking up the wrong tree, but I learned later that afterwards the FBI had me under surveillance for three months.

"To get back to Mr. Hazen on the boat, when he told me how idiotic he had thought our gimmick was, I answered, 'Well, all it goes to show is that you were wrong to attach any importance to the MacGuffin. Notorious was simply the story of a man in love with a girl who, in the course of her official duties, had to go to bed with another man and even had to marry him. That's the story. That mistake of yours cost you a lot of money, because the movie cost two million dollars to make and grossed eight million dollars for the producers.'

"F.T. So it was a big hit. ... I'm awfully pleased to see that Notorious is re-released time and again all over the world. Despite a lapse of twenty years it's still a remarkably modern picture, with very few scenes and an exceptionally pure story line. In the sense that it gets a maximum effect from a minimum of elements, it's really a model of scenario construction. ... All of the suspense scenes hinge around two objects, always the same, namely the key and the fake wine bottle. The sentimental angle is the simplest in the world: two men in love with the same woman. It seems to me that of all of your pictures this is the one in which one feels the most perfect correlation between what you are aiming at and what appears on the screen. I don't know whether you were already drawing detailed sketches of each shot, but to the eye, the ensemble is as precise as an animated cartoon. Of all its qualities, the outstanding achievement is perhaps that in Notorious you have at once a maximum of stylization and a maximum of simplicity.

"A.H. I'm pleased you should mention that, because we did try for simplicity. As a rule, there's a great deal of violence in movies dealing with espionage, and here we tried to avoid that. We used a method of killing that was quite simple; it was as commonplace as the real-life killings you read about in newspaper stories. Claude Rains and his mother try to kill Ingrid Bergman by poisoning her very slowly with arsenic. Isn't that the conventional method for disposing of someone without being caught?

"Usually, when film spies are trying to get rid of someone, they don't take so many precautions; they shoot a man down or take him for a ride in some isolated spot and then simulate an accident by hurling the car down from a high cliff. Here, there was an attempt to make the spies behave with reasonable evil.

"F.T. That's true; the villains are human and even vulnerable. They're frightening and yet we sense that they, too, are afraid.

"A.H. That was the approach we used throughout the entire film. Do you remember the scene in which Ingrid Bergman, after having carried out her instructions to become friendly with Claude Rains, meets Cary Grant to report to him? In speaking of Claude Rains, she says, 'He wants to marry me.' Now that's a simple statement and the dialogue is quite ordinary, but that scene is photographed in a way that belies that simplicity. There are only two people in the frame, Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, and the whole scene hinges on that sentence: 'He wants to marry me.' The impression is that it calls for some sort of sentimental suspense around whether she's going to allow Claude Rains to marry her or not. But we didn't do that because the answer to that question is beside the point. It has nothing to do with the scene; the public can simply assume that the marriage will take place. I deliberately left what appears to be the important emotional factor aside. You see, the question isn't whether Ingrid will or will not marry Claude Rains. The thing that really matters is that, against all expectations, the man she's spying on has just asked her to marry him

"F.T. If I understand you correctly, the important thing in this scene isn't Ingrid Bergman's reply to the proposal, but the fact that such a proposal has been made.

"A.H. That's it.

"F.T. It's also interesting in that the proposal comes as a sort of bombshell. Somehow, one doesn't expect the subject of marriage to crop up in a story about spies.

"Something else that impressed me --- and you deal with it again in Under Capricorn --- is the imperceptible transition from one form of intoxication to another, going from liquor to poison. In the scene where Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are seated together on a bench, she's beginning to feel the effects of the arsenic, but he assumes she's gone back to her drinking and he's rather contemptuous. There's real dramatic impact in this misunderstanding.

"A.H. I felt it important to graduate this poisoning in the most normal manner possible; I didn't want it to look wild or melodramatic. In a sense, it's almost a transference of emotion.

"The story of Notorious is the old conflict between love and duty. Cary Grant's job --- and it's a rather ironic situation --- is to push Ingrid Bergman into Claude Rains's bed. One can hardly blame him for seeming bitter throughout the story, whereas Claude Rains is a rather appealing figure, both because his confidence is being betrayed and because his love for Ingrid Bergman is probably deeper than Cary Grant's. All of these elements of psychological drama have been woven into the spy story.

"F.T. Ted Tetzlaff's photography is excellent.

"A.H. In the early stages of the film, we were doing the scene of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant driving in the car; she's a little drunk and she's driving too fast. We were working in the studio, with transparencies. On the transparency screen we showed a motorcycle cop in the background; he's getting gradually closer to the car, and just as he goes out of the frame, on the right side, I cut to a cross angle and continue the scene, with the motorcycle cop inside the studio this time, showing him as he pulls up to them and stops the car.

"When Tetzlaff announced he was all set to shoot, I said, 'Don't you think it would be a good idea to have a little light on the side, sweeping across the backs of their necks, to represent the motorcycle headlights that are shown on the transparency screen?'

"He had never done anything like that, and he was not too pleased that I should draw his attention to it. And he said, 'Getting a bit technical, aren't you, Pop?'

"A little incident came up while we were making the picture that was rather sad. We needed to use a house in Beverly Hills to represent the exterior of the big spy house in Rio. The head of the location department sent a minor member of his staff to show me the house they'd selected, a very quiet, little man who said to me, 'Mr. Hitchcock, will this house do?' That little man was the same man to whom I originally submitted my titles at Famous Players-Lasky when I was starting out in 1920.

"F.T. That's awful.

"A.H. Yes, it took me a little while to recognize him; when I did I felt terrible.

"F.T. Did you show him you knew who he was?

"A.H. No, I didn't. That's one of the occupational tragedies of this industry. When I was shooting The Thirty-nine Steps, there were some odd, extra shots to be done, and in order to speed up the production, the producer offered to get someone to do it. When I asked him who he had in mind, he answered, 'Graham Cutts.'

"I said, 'No, I won't have it. I used to work for him; I did the writing on Woman to Woman for him. How can I have him come on as my assistant?'

"And he answered, 'Well, if you won't use him, you'll be doing him out of a job and he really needs the money.'

"So, I finally agreed, but it's a terrible thing, don't you think so?'

"F.T. It is, indeed. But, getting back to Notorious, I wanted to say that a key factor in the picture's success is probably the perfect casting: Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, and Leopoldine Konstantin. With Robert Walker and Joseph Cotten, Claude Rains was undoubtedly your best villain. He was extremely human. It's rather touching: the small man in love with the taller woman. ...

"A.H. Yes, Claude Rains and Ingrid Bergman made a nice couple, but in the close shots the difference between them was so marked that if I wanted them both in a frame, I had to stand Claude Rains on a box. On one occasion we wanted to show them both coming from a distance, with the camera panning from him to Bergman. Well, we couldn't have any boxes out there on the floor, so what I did was to have a plank of wood gradually rising as he walked toward the camera."

Dar un LOC de unde pot lua cu sau fara bani filmele lui Hitch subtitrate in romaneste, exista pe undeva? Aceeasi intrebare si pentru Wajda, Bergman, etc.
Daca cineva imi poate da o informatie, poate sa o faca pe privat.
Multumesc.

Dial M for Murder(1954)
- Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings, John Williams

Prima jumatate a filmului a fost superba, dupa aceea apar anumite inconsecvente, lipsa de credibilitate; cea mai frumoasa scena: planuirea crimei, mentionarea celor mai mici detalii (aminteste de secventa celebra din "Rope", cu deosebirea ca acolo James Stewart explica modul in care a fost deja efectuata).
Bun jocul lui Ray Milland si al lui Grace Kelly; americanul in schimb a fost nesarat total.
Din pacate, unele lucruri contrazic logica: nu o sa inteleg cum e posibil ca cineva sa fie condamnat la moarte pe baza unor dovezi circumstantiale, cum a reusit inspectorul sa o scoata pe Grace kelly din inchisoare doar cu o zi inainte de executarea sentintei, dovezi care sa il incrimineaza pe sot nu prea exista deci nu se explica finalul.

PS. s-ar putea muta topicul "Rope" de la Film in general la Clasic?

Mentionez ca "Dial M for Murder" este Hitchcock-ul meu 'preferat', la care m-as uita oricand, desi nici nu ma gandesc sa-l compar cu "Vertigo", "Psycho", "Rebecca", "North By Northwest" etc.



Sunt complet de acord. Prima jumatate (de fapt, prima treime) este o lectie de regie a actorilor si imaginilor. CUT-ul de la sarutul Kelly-Cummings la sarutul Kelly-Milland e genial. Apoi urmeaza planuirea minutioasa, cadrul de deasupra care urmareste miscarile lui Milland, cameo-ul lui Hitchcock... grozav inceput!

A doua treime mi se pare la fel de interesanta si bine realizata: esuarea crimei si modul in care sotul 'aranjeaza' astfel incat sotia sa devina suspectul principal. Partea a treia este mai slaba decat restul filmului, dar finalul (incoltirea sotului, inspectorul pieptanandu-si mustata) face toti banii!


Milland si Kelly sunt exceptionali (la fel si tipul care il joaca pe inspector). Robert Cummings e cam in plus (fata de ce rol a avut Viggo Mortensen in "A Perfect Murder" :P).


Aici cam ai dreptate, dar nu mi-as bate capul prea tare... Dovada impotriva sotului este faptul ca el 'recunoaste' la final. Un fel de dovada de 'noblete' din partea unui personaj fara scrupule si mustrari de constiinta.

Una bucata documentar,Reputations:Alfred Hitchcock,scos de BBC in '99.

Silent-urile scoase in Anglia,calatoria in Germania la UFA,trecerea in US si colaborarea cu Selznick,trecerea la Paramount si revenirea in UK.Interpuse,interviuri cu Chabrol,Bogdanovici,domnisoara care joaca in Birds,cativa producatori si scenaristi cu care a colaborat...portiuni din interviurile cu Truffaut.

Un individ stapan pe mestesugul lui,foarte inovativ,mereu certandu-se cu producatorii,obsedat de a controla tot.

Ultima replica face un rezumat al carierei lui Hitchcock
R:If you could do only one movie what it would be about?
H:Violence,anarchy,sex...and maybe a joke or two.

Still to come...The man who made de movies:Alfred Hitchcock,parte dintr-o serie de 8 documentare scoase de un critic american la sfarsitul anilor '70(alti regizori,Fuller,Cukor,Hawks)

Care credeti ca e cel mai bun film al lui Hitch? Dar cel mai prost,pardon,mai putin reusit (el insusi era nemultumit in special de unul din ele)

Eu zic că cel mai bun ar fi „Vertigo”.

pauline,
nu te supara, dar nu cred k e f interesant un astfel de poll (dovada si raspunsul imediat urmator pe care l-ai primit...).
cred k mai gratificant ar fi k aceia care sint pasionati de hitch sa (re)citeasca postarile anterioare (incepute acum 4 ani!), in care userii de atunci (cu exceptia - fireasca - a lui nume) kiar spuneau lucruri interesante, documentate & cu miez...

M-am grabit,da, voi reciti ,sigur.Si sper ca nu numai eu,daca recomandati topicul...Hitch e inepuizabil.

"For me, suspense doesn't have any value if it's not balanced by humor." – Alfred Hitchcock
Urmarind aseara pe TCM(sunt fan TCM) "North by Northwest",ma gandeam ca pe topicul asta nu s-a prea vorbit de umorul lui Hitchcock din filme(nu umorul din viata reala a sa),contrabalansat de tensiunea cunoscuta.Revin.

este evident dc: pt k umorul detensioneaza & dedramatizeaza o situatie, te face sa te gindesti la altceva si, pt k rizi, ai impresia (falsa!) k 'lucrurile nu's atit de grave'... (ink) o mica perversitate made in hitchland ;)

crek hitch a fost cel mai 'in synch' cu psihologia/asteptarile spectatorilor dintre toti regizorii; pt el, publicul nu este un simplu 'spectator' - este un aliat (&, evident, un cobai).

here - dspr 'la n prin n-v', o mica pastila:

http://agenda.liternet.ro/articol/89...Northwest.html

ce pacat ca umorul britanic savuros din, sa spunem, The Lady Vanishes a fost oprimat de Hollywood. filmele americane au un umor foarte subtil, dar sunt si unele carora le cam lipseste (poate cameo-urile lui hitch sa suplineasca pe alocuri).

o chestie ma chinuie dintotdeauna la hitch si poate ma lamuriti: de ce filmeaza totul in studio si de exemplu scenele de plimbare cu masina din Vertigo (doar un exemplu dintr-o mie) au pe fundal un ecran pe care e proiectata o plimbare prin Frisco? ma enerveaza cumplit si nu pot sa savurez restul. anyway, un gigant, dar nu pot scapa de enervarea asta la nici o vizionare.

Off-topic pentru als: care ar fi un top 10 al ecranizarilor pentru Alex Leo Serban? M-ar interesa un top de "filmul bate cartea" dar in care cartile sa fie si ele "mari" sau "maricele". Nashul nu se pune. merci anticipat. am vrut sa pun intrebarea la conferinta de la TNB dar pentru motive tehnice, pe care mai bine le uitam, n-a mai fost timp.

multumesc pt incredere :">
adevarul e k nu am facut un 'top al ecranizarilor', asa k nu pot sa dau copy/paste...
totusi, la o prima strigare, ar arata cam asa:

1 2001 odiseea spatiala
2 solaris
3 jules et jim
4 the big sleep
5 blowup
6 salo
7 toba de tinichea
8 inocentul
9 calauza
10 the remains of the day

multumesc si eu pentru on-the-spot top 10. mi-a mai redat increderea in cinema. cinefilia mea are crize periodice de identitate. ultima data criza a fost declansata de insuportabila usuratate a fiintei. interesant ca din cele zece, trei sunt SF, unul politist (minunata suprapunerea de policier clasic cu film noir la deplina maturitate), blow-up este dupa o "idee " de Cortazar, dar celelalte cinci sunt intr-adevar "solide" si "literarmente". acum, ca ma gandesc mai bine, as mai adauga: ghepardul, jurnalul unei cameriste si jurnalul unui preot de tara. la a doua strigare. evident eu prefer Mon Oncle dupa care Jean Claude Carriere a scris o "novelizare" tare frumoasa. De ce nu stiu si novelizatorii de hollywood sa faca asa.

da, eu am preferat 'inocentul' 'ghepardului' pt k ideea era de 'filmu bate cartea' - or, lampedusa e mult peste d'annunzio ;)

si pt k ai zis d sf-uri - as skimba 'toba d tinikea' (unde si cartea e beton!) cu... 'blade runner' (= un titlu antologic) B-)

Cred ca acum s-a rotunjit si betonat topul. Daca tot e hitchcock forever si plecaseram de la umor cum ti se pare "the trouble with harry"? nu l-am revazut dar imi amintesc ca nu prea semana cu nimic de dinainte sau dupa.

e haios, dar l-am vz de muuult...
nu e kiar ATIT de atipic, momente de comedie neagra sint in mai toate hitch-urile, dar aici - e drept - comedia neagra s intinde la dimensiunile unui film intreg (kestia cu cadavrul in centrul actiunii e si-n 'rope' - primul sau film color)

mi s-a parut k ciprian alexandrescu, in 'interior. scara de bloc' (nu stiu dk l-ai vz?) are ac premisa k asta din 'ttwh', dar ciprian mi-a marturisit k nu a vz filmul lui hitch

Fara Portocala Mecanica? :)