Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More than enough to hang a plot on!, 24 Oct 2004
Two over-privileged young men commit the perfect murder. Their victim's body is hidden in a large trunk. They invite friends round for a small dinner party, amongst them their old tutor, Jimmy Stewart, the man who once claimed that some people have the right to commit murder ... the man who is most likely to expose their crime. They aim to subject themselves to his inquisitorial intrusion ... just to add a bit of spice to the murder. All this we learn, all this we are given. The tension in the film, the drama, lies in whether or not they will be caught ... and, if so, how?"Rope" is wonderfully transparent in the way the drama is structured ... you can see the clues being put neatly into place, like a master builder placing brick upon brick. There is a famous Chekhov adage that if, in a play, the audience can see a rifle on the wall in Act One, it will have to be used in Act Two. In "Rope", a whole arsenal of weapons is hanging on the wall. You know why they're there, you don't know when they'll make their entrance into the plot. Hitchcock films this story in what almost appears to be one long, long take ... as if he's just recorded a live stage production. The lack of cinematic sophistication only adds to the tension. It creates a sense of claustrophobia. The actors seem to be left to speak for themselves without the aid of rapid cutting or dramatic close ups. Words and action have to sustain the plot. The camera work is simple - it follows the action. There is a magnificent scene where the surly maid clears away the dinner dishes. The camera follows her movements, almost intrusively, as she walks on and off the set, slowly removing the dishes. Tension mounts. Surely, she must discover the body next time? Watch the background. The action takes place in a studio flat with a huge picture window at the back. As the drama unfolds, night slowly falls over the New York cityscape. Ominous clouds take on a Daliesque prominence, hugging the skyscraper silhouettes. It gives a real sense of time passing ... and impending doom. And James Stewart plays a wonderfully understated role. He uncovers not a murder, but his own sense of guilt at suggesting that someone might have the right to kill. The melodrama is swept away. Suddenly we have a fragile human being caught up in his own intellectual trap. Thrown centre stage, Stewart's portrayal is superb. A magnificent, and highly unusual movie.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"That's the difference between us and other men: they talk about committing the perfect crime, we do it", 20 April 2007
"Rope", a film based on a play and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a well-made thriller that entertains the spectator, but that is far from being perfect.
I must say that the story is original, and that the beginning is quite shocking. The two main characters are Brandon and Philip (John Dall and Farley Granger), two young men that commit a crime just to see if they can get away with murder. As if killing another man weren't enough, they decide to tempt fate, hiding the body in a trunk, where it could easily be discovered, and inviting some people to dinner. Their guests include, among others, the victim's parents, his girlfriend and an old schoolteacher that gets increasingly suspicious regarding Brandon and Philip's actions. The schoolteacher (James Stewart) doesn't know exactly what they did, but is certain that something is wrong, very wrong. And of course, he cannot understand why Philip keeps looking at the trunk that is used as a buffet table...
On the whole, I can say that I liked "Rope", even though I wouldn't be overly eager to watch it again. From my point of view, you will also enjoy this whodunnit, specially if you are fond of Hitchcock movies, and don't mind the fact that albeit good, this is not one of his best films.
Belen Alcat
PS: I give "Rope" 3.5 stars...
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9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
experimental but not all that gripping and suspenseful, 24 Mar 2008
Sitting chronologically between two lackluster films, "The Paradine Case (1947)" & "Under Capricorn (1949)", it is one of Hitchcock's most stage-like, monotonous and static films. But, all Hitchcock films have a kind of inexplicable charm, always introducing technical and cinematic achievements. In this sense, "Rope" was a wonderful experiment in its time and still throws additional light on Hitch's creative spirit. Filmed entirely on a single set, the movie was shot in 10-minutes takes which was the maximum amount of film that fit into one reel. All camera moves were planned in advance and actors moved around within tracking shots in a flashy choreography of dialogue and action, all occured in real time. With the help of good cutting, the film seems as if it was shot all in one take.
But this cool technique was hampered by poor buildup of mystery and suspense. The film tells a murder story where two "elitist" college chums Brandon and Philip, influenced with Nietzsche's philosophy of "the Superman" or "Übermensch", kill a friend just for the thrill of it. They hide the corpse in a wooden chest and celebrate their "deed" with a dinner party just after the murder. To demonstrate their "superiority", the perpetrators invite the victim's relatives and friends over the dinner and serve the meal over the chest in which the body is concealed. Then, the crescendo begins with a psychological cat-and-mouse game between the killers and overly skeptic Rupert Cadell (James Stewart), who is the killer's schoolmaster as well as their role-model.
The biggest problem of "Rope" is that as a murder mystery, it is not all that gripping. Just like "Rear Window" Hitch's intent was to trap the audience in a single room and make them experience the same emotions as the characters on the screen, but eventually he fails to do so. The story is single-layered and lacks any emotional base. The relationships between the characters are ill-defined. The arguments on morality and sociology of crime are half-baked and poorly-constructed. From the very moment Cadell enters the room, he becomes suspicious about something going awry and his suspicions increase till the climax without a plausible revelation. All these negativities undermine the film's effectiveness and make "Rope" a mediocre picture in Hitchcock's filmography.
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