The film revolves around a Contessa, in 1866 Venice during the Third Italian War of Independence, who falls for an Austrian officer amidst a tumultuous period in Europe’s history as she is also connected to those working in the Italian resistance. It is a film that explores an affair that would have repercussions during an intense conflict where a Contessa and this Austrian officer both desire a world without war, politics, and social standings. Yet, they would endure a reality that proves to be fatal for both of them as the film’s screenplay by Luchino Visconti and Suso Cecchi d’Amico is largely told from the perspective of Contessa Livia Serpieri (Alida Villa) who is attending an opera in Venice with her husband in Count Serpieri (Heinz Moog), who has been supporting the Austrians, where a protest led by her cousin and revolutionary Marchese Roberto Ussoni (Massimo Girotti) has caused a ruckus. There, she would meet the young Austrian officer Lieutenant Franz Mahler (Farley Granger) who has a post in Venice where is challenged to a duel against Ussoni.
Ussoni would be exiled from Venice where Livia gets to know Lt. Mahler as they would also fall in love where they would keep their affair a secret until Lt. Mahler suddenly leaves with Livia suspecting that there are other lovers. Yet, the war would intensify with Ussoni returning from exile as Count Serpieri and Livia would provide funds for him while they would stay up north to be away from the conflict. The script also play into the chaos of Livia trying to hide her affair though people including her maid Laura (Rina Morelli) know about the affair and its dangers. Especially in the third act it relates to the consequences of their affair with Lt. Mahler and the effects of the war.
Visconti’s direction is grand in the way he presents the film such as the opening scene at the Le Fenice opera house where Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore is performed where Visconti’s usage of the wide and medium shots play into the scope of the Venetian building. Shot on locations in Rome and Venice including studios on those locations, Visconti creates these compositions that do have this tone as if he is creating a painting in some of the shots he made while the opening scene at Le Fenice is lively in the way the Italians react toward the Austrians. It is a lavish opening sequence that helps establish the conflict that is happening as well as the role that Livia is in as she a woman of stature and importance due to whom she is married. Visconti’s close-ups and medium shots help play into the intimacy of a room as well as the interaction between the characters. Even in scenes at Venice at night where Livia and Lt. Mahler are walking around the canals as it would be this moment that would make the two connect over the fallacies of war as well as their longing for each other. Visconti’s direction also play into this growing disconnect between those who are rich and what is happening among those in Italy who are not fond of the Austrians in this conflict that is brewing.
The film’s second half has some grand set pieces such as the Battle of Custoza where the Italians become overwhelmed by the Austrian forces despite claims that the Italians were winning. Yet, it is about what is happening outside of the battlefield, where Livia must watch from afar as she deals with her own actions due to her affair with Lt. Mahler whom she had just seen some days ago. Even as the events in the third act has Visconti putting a lot of detail for the scenes in Verona where the Austrians are preparing to leave but also get drunk and such as it is not a place for Livia to be in. Especially as she is forced to see what her own actions in trying to help her cousin would do as well as what Lt. Mahler had done. Its ending is not just about death but also anguish in a woman who had given up everything for love only to create more chaos during a tumultuous conflict. Overall, Visconti crafts an enchanting and riveting film about an Italian Contessa’s tumultuous affair with an Austrian officer in mid-19th Century Italy.
Cinematographers G.R. Aldo, Robert Krasker, and Giuseppe Rotunno do incredible work with the film’s Technicolor photography with the richness of the daytime exteriors at the villa in the North of Italy as well as the scenes set in Venice with much of the work done by Aldo and Krasker with Rotunno shooting the film’s ending. Editor Mario Serandrei does excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward in its cutting as well as using rhythmic cuts to play into some of the action including fast-cuts in some of the battle scenes Production designer Ottavio Scotti and set decorator Gino Brosio do amazing work with the look of the homes that Livia lives in including her villa near Custoza and the apartment in Venice where Lt. Mahler stayed at. Costume designers Marcel Escoffier and Piero Tosi do phenomenal work with the costumes in the design of the gowns that Livia wears that plays into the feel of the times as well as the Austrian uniforms that Lt. Mahler wears.
The sound work of Aldo Calpini and Vittorio Trentino do superb work with the way cannons and gunfire sound up close and from afar in the battle scenes as well as the sparse sounds of scenes set in Venice. The film’s music by Anton Bruckner, with adaptation by Nino Rota, is brilliant for its bombastic music score with its orchestral flourishes as well as the usage of Giuseppe Verdi’s Il Trovatore for the film’s opening opera scene.
The film’s wonderful ensemble cast feature some notable small roles from Ernst Nadherny as an Austrian general in Verona, Christian Marquand as a Bohemian officer, Sergio Fantoni as a farmer who lives near Count Serpieri’s villa, and Marcella Mariani in a fantastic small role as a prostitute named Clara that Livia meets late in the film. Rina Morelli is excellent as Livia’s maid Laura who aids her in various affairs although she disapproves of Livia’s affair with Lt. Mahler despite her reluctance to hide the affair. Heinz Moog is excellent as Count Serpieri as Livia’s husband who is supportive of the Austrians to maintain his social status until the war goes into chaos where he reluctantly supports Ussoni’s group as Bruno Persa dubs him. Massimo Girotti is brilliant as Livia’s cousin Marchese Roberto Ussoni as an Italian Nationalist figure who is trying to stage a revolution against the Austrians where he would be exiled for a period as he hopes for Livia’s help financially so he can overthrow the Austrians.
Farley Granger is brilliant as Lieutenant Franz Mahler as this Austrian military officer who is filled with charm but also a sense of duty where he falls for Livia hoping for a life outside of war. While Granger is dubbed by Enrico Maria Salerno, Granger still maintains this sense of beauty and weariness of a man tired of his duties only to then succumb to his own faults that would unravel everything around him. Finally, there’s Alida Valli in a tremendous performance as Contessa Livia Serpieri as a woman who is fascinated by this Austrian officer whom she would fall for as she hopes to escape a loveless marriage while also wanting to support her cousin. Valli maintains this sense of regality as a woman that wants love but also must contend with the fact that she plays a small role in this growing conflict that is happening in Italy where she becomes desperate and lost as it is one of Valli’s finest performances of her career.
Senso is a spectacular film by Luchino Visconti that features a great leading performance from Alida Valli. Along with its supporting cast, grand visuals, a sumptuous music soundtrack, and its study of love and lust during one of Europe’s most tumultuous conflicts. It is a film that explores a love affair between two different people that would create chaos during a time of war as well as revelations of what this affair would cost. In the end, Senso is a sensational film by Luchino Visconti.
Luchino Visconti Films: (Obsessione) – (Giorni di gloria) – (La Terra Firma) – (Appunti su un fatto di cronaca) – (We, the Women) – (Bellisima) – White Nights (1957 film) - Rocco and His Brothers - (Boccaccio ’70-Il lavoro) – The Leopard - Sandra – (The Stranger (1967 film)) – The Witches-The Witch Burned Alive - The Damned - Death in Venice - (Alla ricerca di Tadzio) – (Ludwig) – (Conversation Piece) – The Innocent
© thevoid99 2024
Based on the play by Patrick Hamilton, Rope is the story of two college friends who kill a friend inspired by their philosophy professor in the idea of committing the perfect murder. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and screenplay by Arthur Laurents from a story by Hume Cronyn, the film is the first film of Hitchcock to be shot in color as it is set entirely inside an apartment. Starring James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger, Joan Chandler, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Constance Collier, Douglas Dick, and Edith Evanson. Rope is a thrilling and evocative film from Alfred Hitchcock.
Set entirely in a New York City penthouse apartment, two college friends kill their roommate and hide him inside a chest where they hold a dinner party for guests who are unaware that there’s a body inside the chest. Among the guest that is invited to this party is a philosophy professor whom they admire as he becomes very suspicious of what is happening as one of the hosts acts erratically during the course of the party. Arthur Laurents’ screenplay, with un-credited work from Ben Hecht, never steps out of the setting with the exception of the opening credits sequence outside of the penthouse.
It begins with two young men in Brandon Shaw (John Dall) and Phillip Morgan (Farley Granger) strangling David Kentley (Dick Hogan) to death as they put him in this chest in their belief that they have committed the perfect crime. It’s all part of their plan to prove that their intellectually superior to the people they invited including the man that gave them this idea in Rupert Cadell (James Stewart). During the course of the party, everyone is wondering where Kent is including his father (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) and his aunt Mrs. Atwater (Constance Collier) as Cadell notices something is off as he is also wondering about Morgan who starts to drink heavily.
Alfred Hitchcock’s direction is definitely entrancing for the fact that it’s got a lot of long takes and takes place almost entirely inside this penthouse as the only scene not in the penthouse in the opening credit sequence. In using the penthouse as the setting for the entirety of the film, Hitchcock’s usage of tracking camera shots and long takes would allow him to capture what these two men are doing as well as this dinner party. All of which is taking place in real time where there is a lot of coverage into what Hitchcock is capturing with the camera. There are close-ups that would zoom out to go into a medium or a wide shot while there are also these unique compositions of what is happening as it’s all about the attention to detail of what is happening while a character is talking to someone. Even where Hitchcock is focused on a certain object or whatever thing the character is talking about as that person is off-screen. It would eventually lead to Cadell trying to see what is really going on as well as confront his own theories about superiority and inferiority. Overall, Hitchcock crafts an inventive yet intoxicating film about two men who hold a dinner party while hiding a dead body in the middle of the living room.
Cinematographers Joseph A. Valentine and William V. Skall do brilliant work with the film’s gorgeous Technicolor cinematography in creating a look that is colorful while providing some unique lighting early in the film as well as creating different mood for the exterior background. Editor William H. Ziegler does excellent work with the editing as it is very straightforward for a film that only contains ten shots in total with invisible cuts coming during close-ups of a character’s attire. Art director Perry Ferguson, with set decorators Howard Bristol and Emile Kuri, does fantastic work with the look of the penthouse apartment in all of its interiors including many of the objects in the living room as it help play into what is really inside the chest that the guests don’t know about.
Dress designer Adrian does wonderful work with the look of the dress of one of the guests who is baffled by the lack of her appearance of her fiancée. The sound work of Al Riggs is terrific for its naturalistic sound in the way many of the events in the room are presented as well as a few sound effects played outside of the apartment. The film’s music by David Buttolph is superb as it is mainly an orchestral score that appears in the opening and closing credits of the film with additional work from Francis Poulnec that is played on piano by the characters as well as other piano pieces provided by music director Leo F. Forbstein.
The film’s incredible cast feature notable small roles and performances from David Hogan as the unfortunate victim in David Kentley, Edith Evanson as the part-time housekeeper Mrs. Wilson who is also suspicious over what is going on, Douglas Dick as a friend of David in Kenneth Lawrence who is wondering where David is as he also has feelings for David’s fiancée Janet, and Constance Collier as David’s jovial aunt Anita Antwater. Sir Cedric Hardwicke is fantastic as David’s father Henry Kentley as a man who is aghast into Shaw’s view of things while wondering where his son is while Joan Chandler is brilliant as David’s fiancée Janet Walker as a columnist who is eager to meet David as she is concerned about his absence as she also deals with her former boyfriend Kenneth.
Farley Granger is excellent as Phillip Morgan as a co-conspirator of the murder who becomes consumed with guilt as he tries to keep it together throughout the party. John Dall is amazing as Brandon Shaw as another co-conspirator of the murder who is convinced nothing go wrong as he is a man of arrogance that thinks he had committed the perfect crime and has succeeded in being smarter than everyone. Finally, there’s James Stewart in a remarkable performance as Rupert Cadell as a former professor who had been the one who gave Shaw and Morgan the ideas of superiority and inferiority as he becomes very suspicious about what is going on at the party as well as being baffled by the way Morgan and Shaw have conducted themselves.
Rope is a tremendous film from Alfred Hitchcock. Featuring a great ensemble cast, a unique premise, and an unconventional yet rapturous presentation. The film is definitely one of Hitchcock’s quintessential films in terms of laying out the suspense as well as keeping it inside an apartment where many aren’t aware there’s a dead body inside a chest. In the end Rope is a spectacular film from Alfred Hitchcock.
Alfred Hitchcock Films: (Number 13) - (The Pleasure Garden) - (The Blackguard) - (The Mountain Eagle) - (The Lodger) - (A Story of the London Fog) - (The Ring) - (Downhill) - (The Farmer’s Wife) - (Easy Virtue) - (Champagne) - (The Manxman) - (Blackmail) - (Juno and the Paycock) - (Murder!) - (The Skin Game) - (Mary) - (Lord Camber’s Ladies) - (Rich and Strange) - (Number Seventeen) - (Waltzes from Vienna) - (The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)) - The 39 Steps - (Secret Agent) - (Sabotage) - (Young and Innocent) – The Lady Vanishes - (Jamaica Inn) – Rebecca – (Foreign Correspondent) – (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) – Suspicion - (Saboteur) – (Shadow of a Doubt) – Lifeboat - Bon Voyage - (Spellbound) – (Notorious) – (The Paradine Cage) – (Under Capricorn) – (Stage Fright) – Strangers on a Train - I Confess - Dial M for Murder - Rear Window – To Catch a Thief - (The Trouble with Harry) – The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film) – (The Wrong Man) – Vertigo - North by Northwest - Psycho - The Birds - Marnie - (Torn Curtain) – (Topaz) – (Frenzy) – (Family Plot)
© thevoid99 2017
Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith, Strangers on a Train is the story of a tennis player who meets a charming psychopath where they conspire to kill someone where things eventually become troubling when one isn’t unable to fulfill the deed. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and screenplay by Raymond Chandler, Whitfield Cook, and Czenzi Ormonde, the film is an exploration into a deal two men make where one fulfills the duty and the other doesn’t that leads to an exploration of guilt. Starring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, and Robert Walker. Strangers on a Train is a very dark yet extremely fun film from Alfred Hitchcock.
The film revolves around two different men who meet at a train station where they have a conversation as a tennis pro isn’t convinced that the man he talked to will kill his wife for him. Instead, the pro finds himself in trouble when he learns that the psychopath he met has done the dead and wants him to kill his father in return. It’s a film that plays into the idea of deals that are made as the tennis pro Guy Haines (Farley Granger) is trying to get a divorce yet things become complicated when his estranged wife refuses to the divorce proceedings because of money. After another conversation with this man named Bruno (Robert Walker), Guy realizes what he got himself into as he becomes a murder suspect as he’s also being pulled to fulfill the deal for Bruno who wants his father killed so he can get his inheritance.
The film’s screenplay starts off innocently where Guy meets Bruno on a train to his hometown where Guy is meeting his estranged wife Miriam (Kasey Rogers) to finalize the divorce proceedings. Yet, the film then becomes this question of guilt as well as the need to fulfill a favor for someone as Guy finds himself in trouble as he’s being watched by the police as well as Bruno who wants him to kill his father. There isn’t just a sense of guilt that roams around Guy but also the sense of fear over the fact that he’s a suspect and has a debt that needs to be fulfilled where things get more troubling when Bruno starts to appear in Guy’s own world. Especially where things in the third act has Guy realizing that his fiancee Anne (Ruth Roman) and her family whose father is a U.S. Senator are in danger where Anne would even make realizations of what is going as she tries to help out.
Alfred Hitchcock’s direction is truly exhilarating for the way he creates the air of suspense while playing around with its rhythms in order to keep the audience in their toes and to see what is happening. Though it starts off in a very nice way where Guy and Bruno meet on a train while it is followed by Guy’s meeting with Miriam that doesn’t go very well as it suggests that Guy might go along with what Bruno is suggesting. The sequence in the fair where Bruno does his job is one that is very slow-building in the way the suspense plays out. Hitchcock takes his time in using medium shots and close-ups to play into the sense of terror along with some nifty visual effects.
It adds to the element of terror while Hitchcock would also amp up the drama for scenes where Guy is with Anne’s family as it includes a tennis match that is very engaging in the film’s third act. The sense of drama is at times light-hearted but also discomforting once Bruno appears in Guy’s world including a party scene that is very chilling when he frightens Anne’s sister Barbara (Patricia Hitchcock). All of which would lead to Anne to play a key part into the mystery as she knows what happened as she becomes a danger to herself. There’s also some MacGuffins that are used in the film such as a lighter that Guy has which does play as a unique plot device that would drive the third act that involves this terrifying confrontation between Guy and Bruno. Overall, Hitchcock creates a very sensational and gripping film about a man who makes a bad bargain with a psychopath.
Cinematographer Robert Burks does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to create some unique moods in the lighting and its use of shadows for the scenes set at night as well as a very straightforward yet entrancing look to the daytime scenes. Editor William H. Ziegler does excellent work with the editing in creating some unique rhythmic cuts to play into the suspense as it is one of the film‘s major highlights. Art director Ted Haworth and set decorator George James Hopkins do superb work with the set pieces such as the train and the look of the fair as well as the homes that the characters live in.
The special effects work of Hans F. Koenekamp is amazing for some of the things that occur such as a pair of glasses reflecting on a murder and the scenes set in the merry-go-round. The sound work of Dolph Thomas is fantastic for the way the sound plays into the suspense such as the screams and voices for characters off-screen as well as some of the moments that goes on in the fair. The film’s music by Dmitri Tiomkin is wonderful for its orchestral-driven score where it’s upbeat early on and then it gets darker with some brooding string arrangements to play into the film’s suspense.
The film’s phenomenal cast as it features some notable small roles from Norma Varden as a party guest that Bruno charms, John Brown as a professor Guy meets on a train who could’ve been his alibi, Robert Gist as a detective hired to follow Guy, Marion Lorne as Bruno’s eccentric mother, Jonathan Hale as Bruno’s father whom Bruno wants dead, and Leo G. Carroll as Anne’s Senator father who tries to help Guy through his own connections. Patricia Hitchcock is terrific as Anne’s younger sister Barbara who also helps in the investigation as she becomes a key figure in uncovering Bruno as the killer while Kasey Rogers, in her Laura Elliott pseudonym, is excellent as Guy’s estranged wife Miriam who takes advantage of Guy’s money as she decides not to divorce him as she angers Guy.
Ruth Roman is amazing as Guy’s girlfriend Anne who is worried about the murder as she realizes why Guy might be involved upon meeting Bruno as it’s a very well-written and smart role that could’ve been very typical but Roman makes the character so engaging to watch. Farley Granger is brilliant as Guy Haines as a tennis pro who is dealing with a marriage that went wrong as he finds himself in a bad situation that has him feeling guilty and scared. Finally, there’s Robert Walker in an incredible performance as Bruno as this very charming man who can talk his way through anything and always maintain a sense of control while being someone can drive Guy to despair as it’s really one of the finest villains in film.
Strangers on a Train is a remarkable film from Alfred Hitchcock. Armed with a great cast as well as an intriguing story on guilt and deals gone wrong, it’s a film that explores a man who unknowingly makes a deal with the devil as it’s one of Hitchcock’s most entertaining films. In the end, Strangers on a Train is a spectacular film from Alfred Hitchcock.
Alfred Hitchcock Films: (Number 13) - (The Pleasure Garden) - (The Blackguard) - (The Mountain Eagle) - (The Lodger) - (A Story of the London Fog) - (The Ring) - (Downhill) - (The Farmer’s Wife) - (Easy Virtue) - (Champagne) - (The Manxman) - (Blackmail) - (Juno and the Paycock) - (Murder!) - (The Skin Game) - (Mary) - (Lord Camber’s Ladies) - (Rich and Strange) - (Number Seventeen) - (Waltzes from Vienna) - (The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934 film)) - The 39 Steps - (Secret Agent) - (Sabotage) - (Young and Innocent) - The Lady Vanishes - (Jamaica Inn) - Rebecca - (Foreign Correspondent) - (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) - Suspicion - (Saboteur) - (Shadow of a Doubt) - Bon Voyage - Lifeboat - (Spellbound) - (Notorious) - (The Paradine Cage) - Rope - (Under Capricorn) - (Stage Fright) - I Confess - Dial M for Murder - Rear Window - To Catch a Thief - (The Trouble with Harry) - The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956 film) - (The Wrong Man) - Vertigo - North by Northwest - Psycho - The Birds - Marnie - (Torn Curtain) - (Topaz) - (Frenzy) - (Family Plot)
© thevoid99 2014
