Biography and Cultural Background of Alfred Hitchcock - Essay Example

? Alfred Hitchcock Table of Contents I. Biography, Cultural Background 3 II. Historical Period, Culture Represented by Hitchcock and His Work 4 III. Issues of Global Import Presented in Hitchcock's Works 5 IV. Political, Social Justice Concerns Presented in Hitchcock's Movies 6 V. Cultural, Other Human Interest Questions Presented in Hitchcock's Movies 6 VI. Artistic and/or Technical Issues in the Works of Hitchcock 7 VII. Place/Role of Hitchcock in Film History- Critics' Judgment 7 VIII. Personal Opinions About Hitchcock 8 Works Cited 9 I. Biography, Cultural Background Alfred Hitchcock, an engineer in his early life, was born in London England on the 13th of August, 1899. Graduating out of St. Ignatius College at the University of London, he would become involved with the film industry by 1920 after that early engineering stint, eventually creating a body of work that would earn for him a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute in 1979 among many other accolades, as well as the Academy Award for Best Picture for his very first foray into making a film in America. That first Academy Award bid would cone for the film “Rebecca”. His early path would also leave him out of London and into Hollywood by 1939, where he would eventually be the creator of more than fifty movies, chief among them a number of icons and classics in film: “Psycho”, “Rear Window”, and “39 Steps”. He passed away in 1980, in California (A+E Television Networks; Rampton). Some of his other notable works that have stood the test of time include 'The Man Who Knew Too Much', 'The Lady Vanishes', 'Spellbound' and 'Notorious' (The Criterion Collection); 'The Lodger', 'Sabotage', 'The Wrong Man', 'Vertigo', 'North by Northwest', and 'Strangers on a Train'. In the genre of thriller movies, he is the unsurpassed master, having been credited with essentially giving birth to the genre, even as his other achievements included technical breakthroughs in the making of films, such as the use of the MacGuffin device. He made use of various artistic devices too, pioneering in the use and interplay of elements that include humor, suspense and sexuality to make his memorable and groundbreaking films (Turner Entertainment Networks). Meanwhile, as can be gleaned from his biography and early education, his cultural influences have elements that include his early strict Christian upbringing and education, spiced with his experience as an English film maker, technician and craftsman in America (Schwartz; A+E Television Networks; Rampton; Brooks). On the other hand, it is worthwhile to note that while he is well-known in America and made many of the movies that have earned him his reputation on that side of the Atlantic, his influences also extend to his British cinema period, that time in the 1920's when he made British art films that were said to hew towards the sensibilities and aesthetic of the European cinema as art movement. Two of his works during this period, 'The Lodger' made in 1926 and 'Blackmail' made in 1929 bear these influences (Ryall 7; Derry 3-9; Sterritt 2-5; Sloan 15-18). II. Historical Period, Culture Represented by Hitchcock and His Work Properly speaking one speaks of not one cultural period but four periods as far as the reach and breadth of the work of Alfred Hitchcock is concerned. Historically he is situated in that period from the start of the 20th century to 1980. On the other hand, in terms of the sweep of his work and the compass that that sweep covers culturally, there are properly four periods in his work. One is the silent period, which immediately precedes or overlaps with what has been discussed above as his British period, in the 1920's. Seminal films during this time associated with the silent period include 'The Lodger'. The second phase would be characterized by a string of so-called espionage films, made in the 1930's, and includes such works as '39 Steps' in 1935, 'Sabotage' in 1936, and 'The Secret Agent' also in 1936. Films like 'Rebecca', 'Foreign Correspondent', 'Shadow of a Doubt and 'Suspicion', made in the 1940's, would make up part of his third period, when he would burst into the American mainstream movie scene and gain critical and commercial success there. The film 'Notorious', dated 1946, was for this third period one of the highlights, cited by critics for its emotional maturity, easily the most mature in this respect among his works up to that date according to the critics. The period that came after this is considered to be the period when Hitchcock's artistic gifts would come to full fruition, culminating with 'The Birds' in 1963, and preceded by such masterpieces as 'Psycho' in 1960, 'The Wrong Man' in 1956, 'To Catch a Thief' in 1955, 'Rear Window' in 1954, 'Vertigo' in 1958, and 'Strangers on a Train' in 1951. This period would be followed by what the literature essentially describes as waning phase, even as his reputation and influence continued to tower over the genre that he gave birth to, and the movie industry in America and Europe in general (Turner Entertainment Networks). III. Issues of Global Import Presented in Hitchcock's Works It is difficult to imagine Alfred Hitchcock making films with the explicit intention of sending or crafting messages on political and social issues in the United States or elsewhere. If anything, the literature talks about his films from the point of view of art, and also about the human condition as reflected in the characters in his suspense thrillers and the way they live their lives. He also probed into human nature when subjected to terror, and to injustices as well. This seems to be the extent of his social messages and his take on the issues, if any, of his time. These are not properly time-bound issues, but issues that recur throughout humanity through the generations. They are tied to the condition of being human, and to the kinds of situations arising out of human interactions in some of his more macabre settings and plots. For instance, the literature notes that during his third period, his focus theme-wise was on the way ordinary people fought and reacted against society and groups essentially framing them for crimes they did not commit. Or else his intense focus goes to how certain personalities react to being in situations of distress (Turner Entertainment Networks; Sterritt 3-5). On the other hand, the other “issues” of importance to Hitchcock, outside of the human condition “issues” he focused on, seem to be those that related to the technical aspects of his work, from sound to editing and engineering, that had global import in so far as those aspects of his work had universal use for all filmmakers wishing to advance the craft (Derry 5-10). He was a technician and an artist first rather than a social reformer, and maybe a businessman second, and so the “issues” that he dealt with are those that had to do with his craft and with the human condition in general (Sloan 16-19). IV. Political, Social Justice Concerns Presented in Hitchcock's Movies Likewise too, in terms of the political and social justice concerns reflected or presented in the works of Hitchcock, those concerns are largely secondary to the artistic, technical and even commercial aspects of his work. Where he focuses, for instance, on men that have been put in situations where they are innocent for crimes that they are accused of, the social and political aspects of those are muted, and take second place to probing into human reactions to such situations. The human and personal rather than the social and political aspects dominate. On the other hand, that has not stopped literary and movie criticism from imputing and expanding on the social and political messages of some of his work, which do not come from Hitchcock himself but from the meanings that critics have projected unto the films, including 'North by Northwest', which have been viewed in the light of feminist concerns, and films such as 'Psycho', 'Blackmail', and 'The Birds', which have been subjected to social criticism as well through the years (Sloan 20-24). V. Cultural, Other Human Interest Questions Presented in Hitchcock's Movies Hitchcock's films, where they do not have explicit social or political messages and takes on current issues, do focus on the human condition, and various aspects of human interest that are explored within the films. The suspense genre that he gave birth to, after all, relies on an acute and profound understanding of the human psyche, what makes people afraid, and the dynamics of creating suspense situations and stories. These are all stuff of human interest. 'North by Northwest', for instance, explores human situations relating to ordinary people placed in unusual, larger than life situations that society and the institutions of power have created for him. These are unique circumstances that bring forth unusual human reactions and interactions, and such are masterfully explored in Hitchcock's work (Dirks). VI. Artistic and/or Technical Issues in the Works of Hitchcock Here is where Hitchcock shines, in the realms of exploring issues relating to the technical aspects of his film making, as well as in exploring the artistic problems inherent in making the kinds of suspense and thriller films that he did during the course of his career. The literature here is vast and compelling, and deal with such technical aspects as his invention of many techniques and devices to enhance the craft (Turner Entertainment Networks), to probing the impact of his British and European art periods as well as the influence of his own explorations of the human condition through the suspense genre on the quality and appeal of his work (Ryall 7; Derry 3-9; Sterritt 2-5; Sloan 15-18; Dirks) VII. Place/Role of Hitchcock in Film History- Critics' Judgment The literature is unanimous in its acclaim of Hitchcock as one of the pillars of the movie industry in the west in the 20th century, from an artistic point of view, and from the point of view of making films that broke new ground in creating the suspense thriller as a genre, and in making films that achieved both critical artistic nods from the Academy Awards and the American Film Institute, as well as commercial and mainstream success. His iconic stature in America and in Britain attests to the legendary and secure position of Hitchcock in the movies and arts world in general (A+E Television Networks; Rampton; Turner Entertainment Networks) VIII. Personal Opinions About Hitchcock I think the reason he is the object of intense focus in arts and film studies and the object of iconic admiration reserved for the most important figures in the history of western cinema is that he truly made films that were original and out of the box, for his time and for any time. He was a unique voice that changed the way everyone saw film making, and films in general. He combined a masterful understanding of the human psyche with humor and a unique perspective on human life, to create beautiful films. I think he is genius (A+E Television Networks; Rampton; Turner Entertainment Networks; Ryall; Sterritt; Sloan) Works Cited A+E Networks Digital. “Alfred Hitchcock Bio”. Bio true story. 2013. Web. 14 April 2013. Brooks, Xan. “Alfred Hitchcock: 'Psycho was a joke'. The Guardian. 8 February 2013. Web. 14 April 2013.. Derry, Charles. The suspense thriller: films in the shadow of Alfred Hitchcock. McFarland. 2001. Dirks, Tim. “North by Northwest (1959) Film Review”. AMC Filmsite. n.d. Web. 14 April 2013. Rampton, James. “Obsession: The Dark Side of Alfred Hitchcock”. The Independent. 26 December 2012. Web. 14 April 2013. Ryall. Alfred Hitchcock British Cinema (e. Continuum International Publishing Group/Google Books. 2000. Schwartz, Shelly. “Alfred Hitchcock- British Film Director Known for Suspense”. About 20th Century History. 2013. Web. 14 April 2013. Sloan, Jane. Alfred Hitchcock: A Filmography and Bibliography. University of California Press. 1995. Sterritt, David. The Films of Alfred Hitchcock. Cambridge University Press. 2000. The Criterion Collection. “Alfred Hitchcock”. The Criterion Collection. 2012. Web. 14 April 2013. Turner Entertainment Networks. “Alfred Hitchcock”. Turner Classic Movies. 2013. Web. 14 April 2013. Read More