Rope (1948)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1948
	Director: Alfred Hitchcock (The Birds, Torn Curtain)
	Actors: James Stewart (Topaz), John Dall, Farley Granger
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 11.06.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: Two young men (Dall & Granger) murder a friends of theirs for the thrill of it. To top it, they invite family and friends of the deceased to a party in the same room.
Review: I had seen Rope decades ago on French television, and I thought to remember it was in Black&White, while in fact it is in bright Technicolor, the first movie by Hitchcock like this. It has an interesting back story, partly I knew, partly I learned when watching the 30-minutes documentary Rope Unleashed on the Blu-ray. The movie is inspired by a British play, itself inspired (but not openly) by the true story of two rich young men who murdered a friend of theirs just to see what would happen. As a challenge and to reproduce the effect of a theater, the movie was shot as several sequence shots, interrupted only when the camera reel was full (i.e. about every 10 minutes) and tentatively seamlessly (via transitions of filming the back of an actor in close-up). It is remarkable that the actors can hold such a good performance for 10 minutes in a row. This performance reminds me a little of the movie filmed live Fail Safe. I could understand the difficulty of trying to move the camera around a single room: chairs and furniture had to be displaced, walls dismounted while the actors were playing... This was not a piece of cake, but a fair challenge for the Master of Suspense. Note that it is surprising to see a movie shot in 4:3 format. There are supposed to be Gay connotations throughout the movie, mainly between the two friends and with their professor (Steward), but I didn't notice that. Now about the story: very simple and very efficient, although exaggerated as it can be when you portray two friends that commit the perfect murder and then display it to others. Dall, Granger and Steward are great in their respective roles: one of a calculating cold-blooded murderer, the other of a dominated "side-kick" eaten by remorse, and the third of a clever mentor that is the only one who can discover/understand what is going on. Altogether a very interesting movie.
Rating: 8 /10