Sunday, 24 February 2013

Notorious (1946)


☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 


Notorious (1946) -- A. Hitchcock

Dark Hitchcock romance (some call it his best, some call it sadomasochistic) which takes place in the aftermath of WWII in South America where escaped Nazi scientists are still plotting away.  Of course, what they are cooking up down there is just a MacGuffin for Cary Grant and the CIA to chase after with the help of bad girl Ingrid Bergman.  Of course she falls for Grant but he is a chilly constricted bastard to her.  Hitchcock is in full flower using tracking shots to reveal "key" plot elements and point-of-view shots to show consequential subjective states. He intercuts those dwindling champagne bottles to really ratchet up the suspense.  As Claude Rains is forced to find out, you only hurt the one you love.  We almost feel bad for him, Nazi that he is (another of Hitch's nasty experiments in audience identification?).  Masterful.



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