The principle objective of this essay will be to explore and explicate the relationship between art and death within two films by Alfred Hitchcock: Rope (1948) and Vertigo (1958). Discussing Hitchcock’s filmography in ‘Saying it With Pictures’, Erik S. Lunde and Douglas A. Noverr credit the influence of art to be of paramount importance to the director’s visual form, remarking that ‘a great interest in the fine arts strengthened the cinematic vision displayed in countless brilliantly conceived photographic images in his films’ (Loukides and Fuller 1993, p.97). Both critics trace an admiration for the classical arts to have flourished in the director’s youth as he immersed himself in painting classes during his time at the University of London (Ibid).
Later in life, art would assume a strong place within both Hitchcock’s personal and professional personas; within his private sphere Hitchcock accumulated interest in original works of art, collecting pieces by artists such as Paul Klee, Auguste Rodin and Salvador Dali. Professionally, a fascination with the visual arts would infiltrate his body of work, with portraits, paintings and sculptures featuring predominantly within the majority of his films. [...]
As part of centenary celebrations of the filmmaker’s work, a unique visual exhibition was unveiled to commemorate the intimate relationship between art and Hitchcock films. Opening in 2000, an exhibition titled ‘Hitchcock and Art: Fatal Coincidences’ opened in the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Captioned as a ‘celebration of Hitchcock’s personal creative expression’ (Moral 2002, p.171), ‘Fatal Coincidences’ was designed by Guy Cogeval and Dominique Paini to feature over two hundred artworks spanning across the previous two centuries, depicting familiar scenes of art echoed within Hitchcock’s own body of work. Whilst the exhibition has excelled in establishing the painterly parallels present between the real world of art and the surreal world of Hitchcock, the ambition of this work will be to open up discussion of Hitchcock’s artistic influences further. It proposes that art serves not merely as a background prop which accompanies the favoured theme of death quintessential to Hitchcockian narrative, but rather that art becomes embalmed with macabre properties which subconsciously enrich the audience’s perception of the director’s intentions. [...]
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Chapter 1: Tying up loose ends in Hitchcock’s Rope
3. Chapter 2: ‘Set in stone’: sculpting death in Hitchcock’s Vertigo
4. Conclusion
Objectives & Themes
The primary objective of this work is to explore and explicate the complex relationship between art and death in Alfred Hitchcock’s films Rope (1948) and Vertigo (1958). The essay argues that art does not merely serve as a decorative background, but is actively manipulated by the director to embed macabre properties that reinforce the central theme of death within the narratives.
- The role of visual arts and painting in stabilizing themes of life and death.
- The influence of literary branches and music as active narrative components.
- The reification of female characters and the concept of sculpture in Vertigo.
- Hitchcock’s role as a "sculptor of death" through his cinematic techniques.
Excerpt from the Book
Chapter 1: Tying up loose ends in Hitchcock’s Rope
Writing in The Aesthetics of Murder, Joel Black asserts that ‘if any human act evokes the aesthetic experience of the sublime, certainly it is the act of murder’ (Black 1991, p.14). Noting that if the act of murder is to be overlooked morally and instead understood within a purely aesthetic context, Black continues to suggest that the individual who commits it could in fact be credited as a type of artist, as opposed to a criminal (Ibid.). His ideas surrounding the aesthetic components of murder draw influence from Thomas De Quincey’s collection of essays, ‘On Murder Considered as One of the Fine Arts,’ which similarly point to a ‘colossal sublimity’ linked to the act of killing (De Quincey [1827], last accessed 08/02/14). Murder stories possessing oblique motivations have been noted to present hallmarks of the ‘typical Hitchcock product’ (Pichel 1948, p.418) and within Hitchcock’s 1948 film Rope, the aesthetic value of killing is explored in its purest form. Inspired by Nietzschean philosophies concerning the superiority of an elite class of beings, Brandon Shaw and Philip Morgan commit ‘an immaculate murder’ on a late afternoon in the tasteful surroundings of their New York apartment.
Chapter Summaries
Introduction: The introduction establishes the framework of the essay by analyzing the director’s lifelong fascination with the fine arts and setting the stage for the comparative study of two specific films.
Chapter 1: Tying up loose ends in Hitchcock’s Rope: This chapter examines how paintings, literary interests, and audio cues like the metronome are utilized to weave a macabre subtext of death and widowhood into the film's narrative.
Chapter 2: ‘Set in stone’: sculpting death in Hitchcock’s Vertigo: This section investigates how Hitchcock uses the concept of reification, statuesque female figures, and classical art references to transform his actors into living embodiments of his fixation with death.
Conclusion: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, asserting that Hitchcock acts as a "sculptor of death" who integrates classical artistic motifs to enrich his distinct cinematic vision.
Keywords
Alfred Hitchcock, Rope, Vertigo, Art and Death, Fine Arts, Cinematic Vision, Macabre, Subtext, Reification, Sculpture, Visual Semiotics, Sublime, Narrative, Film Aesthetics, Painting
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the fundamental focus of this research?
The research focuses on the intricate connection between art and death in the filmography of Alfred Hitchcock, specifically examining how artistic elements influence narrative depth.
Which films are primarily analyzed in this work?
The study provides a detailed analysis of two of Hitchcock’s most significant works: the 1948 film Rope and the 1958 film Vertigo.
What is the central research question?
The essay explores how the fine arts—such as painting, literature, and sculpture—are manipulated by Hitchcock to reinforce the themes of death, obsession, and the sublime within his films.
Which scientific approach does the author employ?
The author uses a qualitative film-studies approach, drawing upon art theory, critical film analysis, and philosophical references such as Nietzsche and various aesthetic critics.
What specific aspects are covered in the main body?
The main body examines visual motifs, the role of "stasis" in sculpting characters, the use of musical cues in suspense, and the metaphorical use of artworks like paintings and sculptures to mirror the characters' fates.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include visual semiotics, the female sublime, reification, macabre subtext, cinematic stasis, and the aestheticization of murder.
How does the author interpret the rope in the film Rope?
Beyond being a murder weapon, the rope is interpreted as a visual metaphor inspired by Nietzsche’s philosophy, representing the "abyss" between the animal and the superman.
What role does the Medusa reference play in the discussion of Vertigo?
The Medusa reference is used to explain the "tempestuous loveliness of terror" and how Hitchcock’s camera acts as Perseus’s shield to reflect and eventually destroy the character's power.
What is the significance of the "green glow" in the hotel scene of Vertigo?
The green light serves to embalm the character of Judy, completing her transition into the deceased Madeleine and highlighting the aestheticized, tragic nature of Scottie’s obsession.
How is the concept of "sculpting" applied to Hitchcock?
The author identifies Hitchcock as a "sculptor of death" because he treats his actors as living statues ("tableaux vivants"), reifying them through the camera lens to explore his own morbid fantasies.
- Citar trabajo
- English Literature and History Lindsey McIntosh (Autor), 2014, "Fatal Coincidences". An exploration of the relationship between art and death in Alfred Hitchcock’s "Rope" (1948) and "Vertigo" (1958), Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/358722
