Rope (DVD)

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Good
How does it compare to similar films?	Outstanding

Advantages:	Great Story, haunting, Hitchcock's greatest .
Disadvantages:	Way too short

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Some consider Psycho to be Hitchcock’s most thought-provoking films. Others believe it’s Rebecca as it’s a romantic thriller and unlike anything he’s ever done. But for me it’s neither of these. For me it always has been and always will be Rope. Rope was one of Hitchcock’s earlier works. Before Psycho and The Birds Hitchcock concentrated more on thriller and darkness than horror. Even though whilst watching Rope it’s blatantly obvious that Rope is a Hitchcock film it’s still rather different to some of his other movies. Rope has a much darker feel. A much more sinister feeling. You have much more feelings and emotions running around inside you whilst watching Rope more so than say The Birds or Psycho. It’s got a better plot as well. Again the plot is dark and sinister. It’s Hitchcock, in my opinion, at his best. He hasn’t done anything as good since, and Rope is his all-time best.

But at the time, he wasn’t totally satisfied. Hitchcock himself never wanted the film to be shown after it being made. He didn’t consider it one of his best works. He found it dull, irritating and worthless. He never wanted it to be seen and wasn’t happy that he was associated with the film after it’s release. I find this shocking because it is, I have no doubt about it, his greatest work. His greatest film. Simply his greatest!

So, what is Rope all about? The plot is rather complicated and we aren’t introduced to it isn’t explained straight away. We’re kept wondering for a long while what the film is about. It begins with two men – Brandon (John Dall) and Philip (Farley Granger) – seen strangling a man. As the credits finish we only see them strangling the man, and as we’re introduced he takes his last breath and we see him collapse. It may possibly be the quickest murders in film history! A death within 5 seconds of the opening of the film, impressive, wouldn’t you say? We then see the two men put the man (who we later learn is called David) into a box. This box is usually a storage box for books, but they coolly put the body in the box. We see from the beginning that one is much cooler about the murder than the other, though. Brandon is much calmer. He likes the idea of having killed someone. Philip on the other hand is sweaty, nervous and doesn’t know what to do with himself. He’s scared. Petrified. Brandon is the complete opposite. We then learn that David was a friend of theirs. A fellow student from when they were in university, in actual fact.

We’re then told that theirs also a party planned for that night. And David’s Father, Aunt, Girlfriend and other friend from university – Rupert (James Stewart) – are invited. Why? To risk themselves of getting caught. What’s the motive of their murder? Well, to see if they can get away with it. It’s madness, I know, but it’s frighteningly compelling. As the guests arrive David is dead. In the box. A father is two feet away from his dead son’s body and he doesn’t even know it. It’s morbid but as I’ve said, so compelling. They even eat the food off the box. The box that David’s body’s in. So, why David, then? Why was David picked to test this experiment out? David hasn’t actually done anything to them. They’re actually friends. They both just wanted to see if they could do it, basically. If they could get away with murder. To see if it’s possible to kill, and risk being caught and be able to get away with it. Is it possible? Well, watch Rope and you’ll get your answer.

Rope was originally broadcasted as a short play in 1939 on British BBC. It was one whole scene and was adapted from the famous play of the same name. After seeing this dramatisation Hitchcock was inspired to follow the same rules. He wished to make the Hollywood version featuring one whole scene with no takes and no breaks. This did cause a problem, though, as back in 1948 the longest possible time you could film on a normal film was 8 minutes. That is why you’ll notice that every 8 minutes or so there’s a close up on the back of a character, or on a handbag or whatever, and the screen blacks out for a split second. It’s simple and so Hitchcock. It was his idea and he dealt with it brilliantly. It isn’t completely obvious, although I did notice it whilst watching it and I hadn’t learnt about how it happened and the reason it happened then. Hitchcock was very fussy about it, though. Everything had to be right. The first filming of the movie took only a few days with all the scenes acted out to the best of the actors’ ability. Being only 80 minutes long this isn’t a surprise, really, and considering there were only 10 cuts and that they filled a whole 8 minutes at a time of acting, it’s possible. But, Hitchcock, after re-watching the film, decided that the lighting in the background wasn’t as good as it could be and called back all the actors, so they had to film out over half of the scenes again. A Perfectionist? More like a nuisance in my opinion, but still great at his work. He, along with Spielberg, is most certainly the most famous directors of our time and this is a must-see just to see his early work.

As I’ve already said, Phillip is much more scared of getting caught than Brandon. Brandon is as cool as a cucumber and we are made to think, often, that he has a screw loose. To kill someone for the hell of it is mad, but to act so cool and risk his freeness as well is insane. In one part of the film he ties up some books to give David’s father with the same rope that he killed David with. It’s atrocious that someone could act like that. Could kill someone and carry on afterwards so innocently and calmly. It’s unbelievable to watch, really. Philip is more believable. He’s scared. Totally. He doesn’t know what to do with himself and acts oddly throughout the night. He’s scared that he’ll get caught, yet Brandon risks more and more to try and get caught because it’s all a game for him. For Philip, though, it’s serious. He’s killed a man. Stopped a life. Not only that, but he’s eating crabs off his grave! He’s eating crabs with his family and girlfriend. The realisation of it all sinks in through the film. He knows what he’s done. And he can’t stand the fact that he’s got to deal with that, whereas Brandon doesn’t. He’s too insane and busy risking his freeness to worry. It’s as if Philip was simply doing it for fun then when it happened he realised it was a mistake. We’ve all done, although I doubt (and hope!) that any of us have gone to the extreme of murdering someone.

I read in a recent review in a magazine, and as it was describing the film it said:
“Scary thriller with James Stewart, about a two homosexuals who kill a man for the fun of it.”
I’ve seen Rope at least four times, and have never noticed or seen any signs that Brandon and Philip are gay. It never crossed my mind and there weren’t any indications even after watching it. I’m intrigued to think why the writer of the play decided to make Philip and Brandon gay. I believe he did it to make audiences believe that Philip didn’t commit murder for the risk and fun of it like Brandon did, but to follow and go with the person he loved. To do what the man he loved wished and desired him to do. It adds to the plot, I think, that the two are gay, and after thinking about it it’s a disappointment that their sexuality, and sexual love for each other isn’t brought out more often in the film.

Why Rope works so well, as well, is because it only has one scene as I’ve already stated. It’s more realistic and gives the viewers much more to think about. They know everything. Absolutely everything that the two men do after a murder. How they deal with it, what they do, what they don’t do. I don’t think it’s ever really been done, and it’s interesting the way it is done. We get to see every possible emotion and I think the advantage of this makes the film that bit more special because we do feel like a fly on the wall. We’re the ones who are seeing – but perhaps shouldn’t be – this murder take place, and these murderers deal with. It adds to the creepiness and the darkness of the film, and Hitchcock totally succeeded in that department.

It is, no doubt, Hitchcock’s best work and is a masterpiece. It’s in colour (so you can’t even claim that black and white films irritate you!) and everyone should see it at least once in his or her lives. It’s only got a PG rating, which I was surprised to see, but I don’t recommend that anyone under 12 watch it. It’s dark and can be extremely scary. Not necessarily the scenes, but the attitudes and the reactions of different characters. The fact that some characters kill for fun is the scary part. That killing for experimental reasons is what makes people happy. It could certainly give a few nightmares, as it’s a disturbing watch and could scare a few children. It’s a haunting psychological thriller that isn’t only insightful into people’s emotions and ways of dealing with things but also its compelling and 80 minutes of entertainment. It’s often shown on TV, or you can buy it for a reasonable price on Amazon. It’s a film that should be in everyone’s collection. It’s a classic. Simply great!

© Matt Roberts 2004

[Rope Trivia:
Did you know…Alfred Hitchcock made an opening romantic scene in Central Park with Joan Chandler (Janet Walker) and Dick Hogan (David Kentley)? The scene was used for the 1948 promotional trailer but deleted in the film. I myself am glad this happened because it would have taken away from the greatness of the beginning of the film. It added much more to the film if we had never met David before his death, his murder. The opening scene set the tone for the rest of the movie.]