Hitchcock as
Auteur.
Auteur theory was articulated in the 1950’s by French film critics,
most notable by Francois Truffaut.
The concept describes the mark of a film director in terms of:
thematic or stylistic consistencies
personal aesthetic vision
recurring themes
established technique
a defined view of the world
a significant degree of control over production.
(Source: Hitchcock:Auteur?-www.newspaper archive.com )
The works of an auteur director are stamped by the personality and
unique artistic vision of its creator, and are as recognisable and
distinctive as the creators of any other work of art.
In auteur films, it is the director who controls the artistic statement,
takes credit for the film and is responsible for attracting the audience.
When auteur theory was being developed, Alfred
Hitchcock was frequently acknowledged as the
consummate examplar, and his name evokes immediate
expectations in terms of themes and techniques.
As befits the master of mystery and suspense, his films
play with the audience’s nerves, sexually or tabooed areas
assume central or implicit places in his work (the latent
homosexuality of Strangers on a Train, the parody of an
Oedipus complex in Psycho and the traumatic
remembrance of repressed memories of Marnie)
There is a persistent element of black comedy, and
frequent eccentric characterisations. Hitchcock was
influenced by the German Expressionists, and admired
their ability “to express ideas in purely visual terms”
(www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors)
It is this visual expression of thought and psychological
processes that Hitchcock achieves throughout his films.
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (August 13, 1899 –
April 29, 1980) was a highly influential film director and
producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense
and thriller genres. He directed more than fifty feature
films in a career spanning six decades, from the silent film
era, through the invention of talkies, to the colour era.
Hitchcock was among the most consistently successful and
publicly recognizable directors in the world during his
lifetime, and remains one of the best known and most
popular directors of all time, famous for his expert and
largely unrivalled control of pace and suspense throughout
his movies.
Hitchcock was born and raised in Leytonstone, London,
England. While he began his directing career in London,
he worked primarily in the United States beginning in
1939 and applied for U.S. citizenship in 1956. Hitchcock
and his family lived in a mountaintop estate high above
Scotts Valley, California, from 1940 to 1972. He died of
renal failure in 1980.
Hitchcock's films draw heavily on both fear and fantasy, and
are known for their droll humour. They often portray
innocent people caught up in circumstances beyond their
control or understanding. This often involves a
transference of guilt, in which the "innocent" character's
failings are transferred to another character, and magnified.
Rebecca was the only one of his films to win the Academy
Award for Best Picture, although four others were
nominated. However, Hitchcock never won an Academy
Award for Best Director. He was awarded the Irving G.
Thalberg Memorial Award for lifetime achievement in
1967, but never personally received an Academy Award of
Merit.
We will analyse the opening scene of Alfred
Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window’ to present him as an
Auteur.
We will now look at the first few minutes of ‘Rear
Window’.
Through out the presentation I will refer to certain
shots so look closely and see what techniques you
can see Hitchcock has used.
In this scene there is no dialogue and the
camera is telling the story which is known
as ‘pure cinema’.
Hitchcock invented and is well known for
using ‘pure cinema’ in his films to create
suspense.
The credit sequence opens the film with
window blinds being rolled up slowly.
Hitchcock uses this to introduce the audience
to the window and voyeurism aspect of the
film and creates the effect of drawing you
in.
The credit sequence is accompanied by music
created by a whole orchestra of sound.
It creates jumpy, upbeat and light hearted
music, music that personifies morning rush
hour
Hitchcock has a very close relationship with
music in his films and feels a certain type
of music can create a certain mood within a
scene. He uses this music to create a busy
atmosphere.
The camera begins to dolly out the window.
Hitchcock also uses the technique in
‘Psycho’ where the camera moves from the
outside into a window of an office at a
beginning of a scene:
‘A high angle cityscape, a zoom-in to and
through the window, the abruptly
dark room and the room lit normally, as
befitting gradually adjusted vision.’
We are now looking on to a courtyard of
flats.
The flats seem to be in a busy spot.
It seems it be foggy in the small bit of sky
we can see in the distance.
This can indicate the early morning. Lighting
is used well here as it has to be just right
to represent early morning.
The camera then shows us a shot of a black
cat walking up steps in the courtyard.
The camera then begins to introduce us to
the interior courtyard and the other flats.
The camera begins to pan to the left
showing the other windows but there are
no people in any of the flats. This entices
the viewers
The camera then dollies back in the window.
There is a close-up of Jefferies who seems
to be asleep in a chair near the window and
has sweat on his forehead.
‘The surprise disclosure of Jefferies can be
seen as a lesson in viewing: from now on the
spectator will be on the alert for anything
important that may unpredictably come
into view whenever the camera is moving.’
I think this technique of introducing
Jefferies, the protagonist is original and
shows the individuality of Hitchcock.
There is then a shot of a thermometer
that shows a very hot temperature of 93°C.
This shows the reason that the man was
sweaty and close to the window.
The 360 degree panning movement is
repeated in greater detail and
introduces us to the composer.
This is done solely by ‘pure cinema’.
The camera then stops at a fire escape
where two people trying to escape the heat
by sleeping outside.
The camera begins to pan south west of the
balcony missing out the first flat that was
shown on the first rotation of the flat
windows. This adds suspense to the film
because the audience are left wondering
why the camera left out that particular
scene.
The camera pauses at a white framed
window.
A blond haired young woman known famously
as Miss Torso is wearing shorts and a
strapless bra goes about her every day
routine.
She could be seen as a pleasant diversion.
Hitchcock uses this aspect in most of his
films as he had a fixation with the sexual
side of peoples viewing.
The camera comes back into the flat and pauses.
A sweaty man is in a wheelchair with a broken leg is
in the flat.
The flat is very small and cramped. Written on the
cast is the name of the owner ‘L.B Jefferies’.
The camera introduces us to the rest of the flat.
From this scene we learn through Hitchcock’s use of
‘pure cinema’ that Jefferies is a successful
photographer who has had an accident while on a
job and has to stay cooped up in a small hot room
with nothing to do but look out his window at the
other flat windows.
I will finish by looking at a conversation with
Hitchcock so he can explain to us through
his own words a bit of who he is.