Before the movie
1 How did you first come to see this movie?
1 How did you first come to see this movie?
This is one of the only Hitchcock movies I own. The only? I used to have Rear Window. But anyways, I probably would have seen this movie at some point, but because of 1001MYMSBYD, I watched something like maybe a baker’s dozen Hitchcock films including this one.
2 What makes it a movie worth owning?
2 What makes it a movie worth owning?
This isn’t even my favorite of his, so it will be interesting to see why I kept it. Some of his other movies I enjoyed are Rear Window (as mentioned), Vertigo, Rope, and Dial M for Murder. I would probably have to see Psycho again before being able to add it to the list.
3 What are your favorite parts?
3 What are your favorite parts?
One of the most suspenseful scenes is during the tennis match. I forget what exactly happens in the plot, but there is some crucial thing about to be revealed, but instead we are obligated to watch this prolonged tennis match.
4 What do you relate to in the movie?
4 What do you relate to in the movie?
Being a stranger?
5 Who is your favorite character and why?
5 Who is your favorite character and why?
(from after movie) I didn’t like either of the main characters. Or, I liked them both for different reasons. I liked Bruno in the way that you are meant to like villains, I admired his cleverness and will, like how one can admire the muscles of a savage beast. And there was something I didn’t like about the innocent Guy, how he had no power at all. Probably my favorite character was Babs, Guy’s love interest’s younger sister who was quirky and whose role was played in a director’s daughter kind of way.
6 How did this movie make you feel?
6 How did this movie make you feel?
Tense.
After the movie
1 How accurate were your memories of this movie?
After the movie
1 How accurate were your memories of this movie?
What I remembered, I did so accurately.
2 How much had you forgotten?
2 How much had you forgotten?
Hitchcock’s movies are never just about telling the story or being entertaining or frightening, although they are those things too. He is a filmmaker of the first degree. He invents new language, new visions. In almost every film he made, he invented some new technique to best portray the story and the entertainment and the fear. I couldn’t remember before watching it, what sets this film apart stylistically, the technical innovations. But they’re there.
3 Do you still like this movie?
3 Do you still like this movie?
Yes. I’m not sure why I felt it necessary to own it though.
4 Did you have any new feelings or experiences?
4 Did you have any new feelings or experiences?
I felt this sense of waiting, impending doom which seems, rationally, that it should be avoidable. This insistence towards destruction lends the movie noir tones. Although I remember this movie for having an excruciating scene of suspense, while watching it now, I didn’t really get how it was really necessary, i.e., for the plot. I didn’t understand exactly what Guy was racing against Bruno to do. The only reason why it became necessary was because the race itself tipped off the authorities.
5 What is the take-away?
5 What is the take-away?
Some movies don’t tell a moral. The take-away certainly isn’t to avoid having psychopaths kill people you want dead. Some movies are made to evoke a feeling, to entertain, to make the movie. This movie was suspenseful, but my favorite movie for its suspense is Diabolique.
6 How do you think watching the movie impacted/ will impact your future actions if at all?
6 How do you think watching the movie impacted/ will impact your future actions if at all?
I don’t talk to strangers, really. I probably will continue not to do so. i found out that it was based on a Patricia Highsmith novel, so maybe I will rea