Finding the Convention in an Unconventional Film: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948)

Posted by Sulagna Bhattacharjee September 29, 2019

Finding the Convention in an Unconventional Film: Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948)

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 Psychological thriller, “Rope” is probably best known for its technical aspects more than its storytelling capacity. Daringly shot close to real time and implementing rare editing techniques which were mostly unheard of back in that era, precocious editing made it look like the entirety of the film was just one long continuous shot. Based both on real life events and most importantly on a play, Hitchcock took the inspiration out of the features of the stage, and succeeded in carrying out the actions of the film in a limited setting and excruciatingly close to real time.

The editing rather remains implicit in the film but when observed closely one can discover cuts being placed tactfully, taking refuge by closing in on blank surfaces and zooming out of the same surface to imitate continuity. What remains to be a challenge in Hitchcock’s Rope is choosing a particular sequence to analyze i.e. break it down shot by shot, owing the length (mostly 10 minutes) of each long takes. A shot by shot analysis can only be made possible when cuts are visible enough to differentiate between shots but Rope being in the grey area for that matter, can only be analyzed via the change of camera angles and camera movement if one wants to speak in depth about an essential sequence.

Speaking about a particular sequence of this film that upholds the narrative integrity and also how meaning can be generated via the succession of images, particularly would be the opening sequence up until the moment the maid arrives. Quite unlike other Hitchcock endeavors that up the notch of suspense as the story progresses, Rope explicitly begins and holds onto the suspense alongside story progression. Within the first 12 minutes of the film major plot elements are divulged, which include the apparent murder, the murderers, the method of the killing, the victim, his family as well the motive behind the murder. The most important element being the “rope”, i.e. the instrument of murder which would time and again pop up as the film progresses. This is in stark contrast to the implicit editing techniques adapted by Hitchcock for this film.

The motive in fact stands out most prominently as it is not fueled by the common pangs of emotion or due to some conflict with the victim but as an intellectual exercise. Perpetrators Brandon and Phillip in order to prove their superiority over the so called average human race end up committing the “perfect murder”, according to them. The satisfaction of having committed a perfect murder, one that easily escape the comprehension of man and the law acts as an impetus for the aesthetes Brandon Shaw and Phillip Morgan. Having been imparted with intellectual concepts such as Nietzsche’s Ubermensch (“Beyond Human”) or Thomas De Quincey’s “Art of Murder” by their Harvard professor, Rupert Cadell (played by James Stewart), the two men act on their neuroses driven by these concepts. For them the mere act of killing establish them as “Alpha” in a world filled by the “Beta’s”

For someone like Alfred Hitchcock whose films have delved more into the technicalities of murder, Rope stands out as an exception since it elucidates heavily the psychology behind the murder alongside the action surrounding it. This can somewhat be loosely compared to Hitchcock’s own state of mind, by noticing how Hitchcock himself was on a quest to establish superiority in that era by undertaking such an intrepid film making practice through Rope.

To dig into the reasons why the initial minutes of Rope are the most crucial minutes not only in the film’s duration but also acts as precursor to Hitchcock’s future works, the elements mentioned before, play a very important role. The cold bloodedness of the murder committed by two seemingly bright gentlemen that of their unsuspecting fellow classmate from Harvard, establish at first the presence of an acute psychological derangement in between Brandon and Phillip. A sort of mental anomaly that would manifest itself in other forms in later Hitchcock films such as Psycho (1960), where too, a seemingly meek and amicable Norman Bates hides a dark truth while Janet Leigh’s character remains unsuspecting of any foul play.

Furthermore, the theories and the concepts that ignited their call for murder was at first imparted upon them by Rupert Cadell, who was mockingly invited to the party that succeeded David’s murder, which was based upon Cadell’s, for the lack of a better word, teachings. Interestingly, as the film draws nearer to conclusion it is Rupert himself who at first, grows suspicious about David’s whereabouts and in the end successfully identifies his two former students as the killers. The misuse of Cadell’s teachings to justify a murder leaves him astound and deeply perturbed in the end. Thus the motive of the murder can be associated with important plot points such as Rupert’s character introduction and the ironical unveiling of crime by the same man who inspired it up to an extent.

The way Phillip’s character begins taking the refuge of alcohol, minutes after having committed the crime is sutured around the plot to his exceeding nervousness, by the end of the story. It ultimately culminates into him becoming a prime suspect in the eyes of Cadell. The rope, which is shown hanging from the chest sometime after committing the murder, is gruesomely used as a tie for the books given to David Kentley’s father. Unknowingly the victim’s father carries with him the instrument of his son’s murder, adding another dosage of emotional vileness to the already explicit nature of the film.

It is also necessary to point out how the Camera in Rope acts a narrator in itself, in a typical Hitchcockian way. The camera pans down to showcase the rope hanging out of the chest to give a sense of impending suspense to the audience. Moreover, it is quite similar in action to a particular sequence in Family Plot, Hitchcock's last film wherein the hidden diamonds are hinted at by the camera panning upwards to show the Chandelier which acted as the hiding place of the diamonds. Thus once again acting as a narrator.

Thus to conclude, Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope remains to be a masterpiece in an already long list of masterpieces directed by the eponymous Master of Suspense.

Shot by Shot Analysis of the first 12 minutes:

1. High Angle Establishing Shot:

(Street opposite to the building where the action takes place, somewhere in Manhattan)

2. Pan Left:

(From the street to a window)

3. Close Up:

(David being strangled by Brandon and Phillip)

4. Mid Shot:

(Brandon and Phillip checking if they have succeeded in committing the murder; hiding the body inside a chest)

5. Long Shot:

(Brandon opens the curtains inside the room, exposing the Manhattan Skyline)

“Open it.” (Brandon lights the lamp)

Don't.

- We've got to see if -

- I know.

- But not just yet.

- Let's stay this way for a minute.

- Phillip, we don't have too much time.

- It's the darkness that's got you down.

Nobody really feels safe in the dark. (Pulls down the binds)

6. Mid Shot: (Camera moves inwards)

(Brandon takes off Phillip’s gloves, the ones used to commit the crime)

7. Camera pans to the right, readjusts at the centre

(Phillip deposits the gloves inside the drawer, Brandon reorders the room into normalcy)

8. Slight pan to the left (Camera moves with the movement of the characters)

Victim introduced: David Kentley

(Brandon (holding a glass out) -“Out of this David Kentley had his last drink”)

Motive established: “The perfect victim for the perfect murder”

(The two men believe they have committed a non - prosecutable crime)

9. Medium Long Shot:

(Phillip realizes there’s no lock to the chest)

10. Mid Shot:

(Phillip shows perceptible signs of nervousness)

11. Tracking Shot:

(Camera follows the two men across the hall onto another room, wherein Brandon has kept the Champagne that is to be served to Phillip, thus beginning Phillip’s drunken stupor)

12. Mid Shot:

(Brandon validates the murder further in his continuous effort to pacify Phillip)

“The Power to kill can be just as satisfying as the power to create”

13. Medium Pan Shot:

(The men drink in the name of David and in celebration of having apparently committed the perfect crime/ Brandon engages in explicit details about the death of David)

14. Tracking Shot/ Long Shot:

(Phillip questions the idea of inviting people over for a party on the day of the murder; is negated by Brandon)

- (Brandon) “ The Party’s the inspired finishing touch to our work”

Furthermore, the invited guest list is revealed: David’s parents and his soon to be wife, Janet.

15. Tracking Shot:

(Brandon shifts the candles on the dinner table onto the top of the chest)

16. Medium Long Shot:

(The idea irks Phillip/ Brandon believes it is a great camouflage to divert attention from the chest inside which lies David)

17. Long Shot:

(The two men move across rooms/ continue decorating the chest with contents of the regular dinner table)

18. Medium Long Shots:

(Brandon and Phillip look behind excuses to keep suspicion

Regarding the shift at bay)

19. Close Up:

(Books for which David’s father was mainly coming to the party)

(Rope used to strangle David lurks from the chest, exposing the instrument of murder)

20. Mid Shot:

(Brandon plans on lying out the books on the original dining room table/ easy accessibility for the old man/ once again to divert attention from the newly ordained dining table – The Chest)

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