Rope 1948

                                                              ROPE 1948

Rope is a psychological thriller that was adapted from Patrick Hamilton's  Play which appeared in 1929.
The play was based upon the real life murderers Leopold and Leob who killed an innocent man to see how it felt, this case became very famous in America and it was linked to the ideas of Nietzsche and his notion of "superman" a morally superior human being. His ides influenced Hitler and the Rise of Nazis.

The film was made in 1948 and was directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The unique and interesting thing about the film is the editing, Hitchcock wanted to film the story as one long continuous take so that it was like watching a play and the audience felt they were "living" the action, however, before digital, film came in ten minute rolls and Hitchcock had to compromise and each unedited scene is ten minutes long, the changes between the scenes appear rather "clunky" to a modern audience.

Using this editing technique creates a feeling of claustrophobia, the actors and the audience are both 'trapped' in the film. The trunk with the body in it is present throughout the whole film, which adds to the tension. The popular questions that are asked are; Will the trunk ever be opened? Will Phillip and Brandon ever be discovered?

Another fascinating element to the film is the way homosexuality is portrayed, the strict censorship of the 1920's meant that the subject could be implied but not openly stated.

This thriller used devices such as Cliffhangers and Suspense.

Cliffhanger: Will Rupert Cadell (James Stuart) be killed at the end of the film?

Suspense: We constantly wait for the trunk to be opened and the body to be discovered.