World Cinema & Auteurs - Alfred Hitchcock - Essay Example

World Cinema & Auteurs Alfred Hitchcock In the 1950s French film critics, most notably Francois Truffaut, proposed the auteur theory. It describedthe hallmarks of a film director in terms of personal aesthetic vision, recurring themes, recognized technique, thematic and stylistic consistencies, a distinct view of the world and considerable control over production. An auteur's work is marked by his personality and unique artistic vision and is as recognizable and typical as the creators of any other work of art (Auteur Theory 2006). The director of an auteur film dictates the artistic statement, assumes acclaim for the film and is responsible for garnering an audience. During the development of auteur theory, Alfred Hitchcock was repeatedly cited as a perfect example of the concept. His own name suggests various connotations in terms of techniques and themes he explores. As he is known for his mastery of the mystery and suspense genre, his films often evoke the darker fears of audiences and deal with taboo areas which are quite often central to his work. For example, in his movie Strangers on a Train, the subject of underlying homosexuality is dealt with. In Psycho, the satire of an Oedipus complex is explored. In Marnie, the harrowing experiences of repressed memories if highlighted. In all these there is an underlying and perpetual component of black comedy and peculiar characterizations. His main influences were from German expressionists who had the ability to express ideas in visual terms. It is this visual expression of thought that Hitchcock accomplishes in all his films. Hitchock's first American film was Rebecca (1940) which explored uncertainties of a nave young bride in a English country home, who is forced to come to terms with an aloof husband, a greedy housekeeper and her husband's late wife's legacy. Hitchcock displays his consummate expertise in his films with cinematic techniques such as using various camera viewpoints, intricate video and soundtrack editing to enhance suspense and fear. In his film Notorious, there is a zoom-in shot from a height to an extreme close-up of a major plot detail and suspense building inter-cutting of the last scene. In Blackmail, an elaborate pattern of sound and dialogue revolving around the word 'knife' is used to mirror feelings of guilt. The Thirty-Nine Steps has a cut from a woman's scream to the identical sound of a train whistle. In Suspicion, Hitchcock uses a light bulb to generate the effect of an ominous glowing glass of milk. His hallmark as a filmmaker stems from using inanimate objects as symbolic power. In addition to using objects he placed great emphasis on the development of set pieces where his talent for creating suspense could be magnified. His films depict both fear and fantasy, as well as an undercurrent of droll humor and often show innocent people caught up in circumstances beyond their control or comprehension. Sometimes involving a transference of guilt in which the "innocent" character's failings are transferred to another character and exaggerated (www.wikipedia.com Apr 06). Yet another frequent theme is the basic incompatibility of men and women. Hitchcock's films often take a cynical view of romance. Hitchcock's most commonly used device for propelling his story plots and creating suspense was something he called the "MacGuffin" which is a detail that incites curiosity and a desire to know (www.wikipedia.com Apr 06). This detail drives the plot and motivates the character's action within the story, but whose identity is inconsequential to film audiences. For example, in Vertigo "Carlotta Valdes" is a MacGuffin. The character never appears in the film and the specific details of her demise are trivial to the viewer, but the back story about her ghost's haunting of Madeleine Elster is the incentive for Scottie's investigation of her. She becomes the center of the plot which the entire movie revolves around. In The 39 Steps, the state's secrets serve as a MacGuffin. Hitchcock's films resonate with themes that reflect his vision of the world. Various psychologies are depicted in his films such as unfair accusation and imprisonment and also one of his central themes, that of mistaken identity. Movies that depict these themes are North by Northwest, The Thirty Nine Steps, The Lodger which all have a wrongly accused man who must prove his innocence by finding the real culprit. Hitchcock often used recurring motifs that expressed his vision of the world. For Strangers on a Train, Vertigo and Psycho he used staircases, also sinister houses in Psycho, chasms in Vertigo and North by Northwest and national landmarks such as the United Nations building and Mount Rushmore in North by Northwest. Another key Hitchcock trademark was of a woman instrumental in her own transformation into a new identity. Vertigo featured this theme. In Strangers on a Train, Psycho and Marnie the MacGuffin theme that figures prominently is that of a kind and caring woman who is at the same time deadly and appears in her various personalities at different times in the movies. Some narrative devices which are relatively of minor interest to audiences but which motivate the characters are also a Hitchcock trademark. An example of this is the movie Notorious where uranium ore hidden in wine bottles in a basement. Hitchcock is well known for his later films which all bear his familiar trademark stamp. But his earlier films also show evidence of his touch in structure and content of the screenplay. Also in the development of theme, plot and images and in his choice of cast and set pieces. His first few films display his adeptness in his use and style of lighting and appropriate positioning and motion of cameras. His films created moods which prolonged and changed with the goal of manipulating audience's fears and desires. In a majority of his films, there is a persistent notion of demons in various forms whether it be a psychotic killer, evil birds or an unknown assassin. His narrative had economy in the sense that no scene was over exposed or prolonged to the audience. The pacing was measured and not too hasty in accordance with the narrative. Wit was another feature his films used but to a lesser extent. These factors enabled him to create personalized films that bore the trademark of his artistic personality and permitted him to rise above the limitations set by the studio system which were in those days characterized by certain types of films as belonging to that particular studio. For example some studios specialized only in crime films, others in romantic comedy. Hitchcock's stature as a master film maker enabled him to have a greater degree of control over the way his films were made. Francois Truffaut who once interviewed Hitchcock says that "he exercises such complete control over all the elements of his films and imprints his personal concepts at each step of the way. Hitchcock has a distinctive style of his own. He is undoubtedly one of the few film-makers on the horizon today whose screen signature can be identified as soon as the picture begins. (Scott 1985 p.18)." Truffaut's publication in 1967 of his interviews with Hitchcock that established Hitchcock as the quintessential auteur'. Truffaut's interviews with Hitchcock reveal that the master director downplays the involvement and input of the cast and crew in his production to "little other than elves in the master carpenter's workshop" (Cheshire 2000). His self centeredness arose from his authority over his film. The disintegration of the studio system in the 1950s allowed individuals to control and shape their artistic creations into something that was more personal to them. But film is a collaborative medium, and not a result of a single person's efforts. A number of external factors are associated with the film's development, for example finances, release dates, deadlines, availability of contracted actors, script re-writes, production design and costs, camera operators etc all influence the making of a film. The collaborative nature of film making also dissuades experimentation and testing. A number of observers have suggested that Hitchcock's artistic vision was a result of collaboration with scriptwriter John Michael Hayes. Some argue that Hitchcock's cinematic mastery was transformed by Hayes' script writing. To Catch a Thief, Rear Window, The Man Who Knew Too Much, The Trouble with Harry are just some of the movies that the two collaborated with and which revealed a lighter and a more stylish side of Hitchcock. Even the director himself has said that "People embrace the auteur theory. Very often the director is no better than his script. (Burnett 2001)" But even his own script writer could not escape Hitchcock's biting remarks when the director in his interview with Truffaut said that Hayes was "a radio writer who wrote the dialogue. (Burnett 2001)" Although Hitchcock was regarded as a tour de force in Hollywood, he relied on the collaborative efforts of his entire film making unit including the great performances from his actors, finely tuned script and the creative input from others. Hitchcock is famously known for his dark film Psycho which he said owed 50% of its success to the music of Bernard Herrmann who had asserted that the shower scene have music. Reluctantly Hitchcock had agreed and the scene went down in film history as one of the best for its sheer audio and visual power. Music played a major part in Hitchcock's films. Most critics agree that the films which use Herrmann's music stand out the most. Throughout Hitchcock's career of over 60 films, Herrmann had worked on 7 consecutive film beginning in 1955 with The Trouble with Harry (Royal Grammer School 2004). The themes Hitchcock used in his films were greatly enhanced by Herrmann's music. Three films in particular, Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1958) and Psycho (1960) are fine examples of films where music plays an important role in creating mood, atmosphere and tension. The mystery and suspense in Vertigo was complemented by the music as was the score for Psycho which generated shock. Before he came into collaboration with Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock had inserted select pieces of appropriate music from other composers into his music. This was a time consuming and lengthy process and Hitchcock was unable to control the way the scores sounded in his movies. But with his recognition of Herrmann's atmospheric and brooding scores, which were used in Citizen Kane and other films, Hitchcock suddenly found his ideal composer, someone who could do justice to the themes set out in his films. With Herrmann's mastery of score creation Hitchcock could encompass the music into the filmmaking process in order to edit the film to suit the music. The fact that Herrmann was given a cameo appearance in The Man Who Knew Too Much, clearly highlighted the importance Hitchcock gave to his composer. In all the films Hitchcock and Herrmann collaborated on, a considerable amount of emotional and dramatic power showed with the combination and matching of Herrmann's score with Hitchcock's visual imagery. Prior to the introduction of sound in cinema Hitchcock believed that a story could be told without dialogue, purely in the cinematic fashion, shots and scenes edited together so that a viewer could more or less follow the story just by the visuals (Fordham 2006). Hitchcock in his interviews with Truffaut expressed his misgivings that the introduction of dialogue had diminished the significance of film narrative: 'In many of the films now being made, there is very little cinema: they are mostly what I call "photographs of people talking". When we tell a story in cinema, we should resort to dialogue only when it's impossible to do otherwise. I always try first to tell a story in the cinematic way, through a succession of shots and a bit of film in between.' (Scott, Truffaut 1985 p.61) Hitchcock's made numerous cameo appearances in most of his films. He described it as a gag, a playful gesture that would become Hitchcock's trademark which fans would sportingly try to spot whenever they saw his films (www.wikipedia.com Apr 06). Except for one of his films where his voiced the prologue, Hitchcock did not utter a word in others. Instead he would be seen briefly while boarding a bus, or walking across the front of a building, standing in an apartment across the courtyard or even appearing in a newspaper photograph (required for the film Lifeboat filmed in open water and which provided no other opportunity for him to appear). Some of his movie had a recurring theme where he would carry a musical instrument. For example, in Stranger on a Train he wrestles a large cello case onto the train. In earlier movies he filled in an obscure extra, in a crowd or walking through a scene. Later movies featured him more prominently. In Stage Fright he turns to see Jane Wyman's disguise as she passes him. Hitchcock's craftsmanship is apparent in the way he involved himself with the production and development of the movie. He planned each shot well in advance with the help of storyboards and pictorial outlines. Script treatment was a major part of the way he guided the progress of the material from beginning to end. Since he planned each shot with precision and an eye for detail he wasted no scenes and did not film extra material that would have consumed more of the budget and time. He did not give an opportunity for his producers to change or recut the film according to their whims and desires. Hitchcock was in total control. He had an intense inner conviction that his opinion was always right and that he knew better about what would work and what wouldn't in the movie. More often than not, producers and studios did not interfere with Hitchock's vision and his expression of ideas thus allowing him complete command once the movie was in his hands. Hitchcock is widely regarded as the ultimate auteur. He was audacious enough to make numerous bold cameo appearances in many of his movies thus advertising his own persona which is similar to a signature of an artist on a painting. References Auteur Theory (2006). Available from Accessed 12-4-06 Burnett, Allison (2001). Writing with Hitchcock: A Collaboration of Alfred Hitchcock and John Michael Hayes. Variety.com. Available from Accessed 9-4-06 Cheshire, Ellen (2000) The Singer or the Song Kamera. Available from Accessed 10-4-06 Fordham, Geoff (2006). Hitchcock's place in film theory. Available from Accessed 9-4-06 Royal Grammer School (2004). Planning and focusing on Auteur Theory : Alfred Hitchcock. Available from Accessed 11-4-06 Scott, Helen G. and Truffaut, Francois (1985). Hitchcock. Simon & Schuster; Revised edition. P.18 Scott, Helen G. and Truffaut, Francois (1985). Hitchcock. Simon & Schuster; Revised edition. P.61 Wikipedia (Apr 2006). Alfred Hitchcock. Available from Accessed 10-4-06 Wikipedia (Apr 2006). List of Hitchcock's Cameo appearances. Available from Accessed 16-4-06 Read More