Note: Posts with the "Just Watched" tag are movies that I just watched for the first time.
I have a confession to make. I'm a really big fan of Alfred Hitchcock, but I've never seen The 39 Steps, a film that is regarded as an essential espionage movie and one of Hitchcock's greatest works. Thanks to Netflix, I just changed that.
This movie is fantastic. Although some of Hitchcock's movies are shot in colour, I think black and white really was his best medium. His use of light is brilliant (see the picture above), often using heavy amounts of contrast and sharp, unsettling shadows to reflect the constant state of paranoia that the protagonist lives in, something that could probably not been accomplished (or possibly done to a lesser effect) in colour. That said, the setting in this particular film are gorgeous. This was made before Hitchcock's departure from England to Hollywood, and most of it takes place in rural Scotland. Gorgeous hills, peaceful farms and quaint country life visually counterpoint the chaotic chase that unfolds throughout the movie, as a man wrongfully accused of murder runs from police and spies trying to find answers. Hitchcock's signature attention to detail is also dominant in the composition of the elements onscreen. Everything is in its place, drawing the eye to the most important parts of the shot and keeping the viewer focused on what matters.
The plot of 39 Steps was absolutely not what I expected. I was expecting a spy movie focused on a protagonist (a spy), trying to stop an evil nemesis of his from taking over the world, stealing technology etc etc etc. In short I was kind of expecting a typical espionage film, which was probably stupid of me because all of Hitchcock's work is anything but conventional. Blame it on me watching too many Bond movies, I suppose. The story is more focused on the journey of the main character, and his struggle to prove his innocence. His character definitely grows over the course of the movie, turning from a freaked out average guy to a (sort of) fearless perceived criminal who jumps off trains, runs from cops, gets shot, and eventually proves his innocence in the end. And that's what made The 39 Steps so appealing to me. There was a lot of effort put into character development. A movie hero is nothing if not interesting, and I was constantly left wondering how he was going to get out of these tough situations. Hitchcock really makes the viewer empathize with the plight of his character here, and that is one of the biggest triumphs of this movie.
This was also one of the first Hitchcock movies I've seen where I was able to spot his famous onscreen cameo on my first viewing, and I just want whoever reads this to know that I am really proud of myself for that. But in addition, there were some other plot elements that are very "Hitchcockian" that I noticed in 39 Steps that also show up in other films he has made. For instance, the concept of an average, normal person becoming involved in some type of conspiracy, or suddenly thrown into a world they know nothing about. This also happens in North By Northwest, where the main character's identity is mistaken and he is kidnapped. There were also a few things in Psycho that are reminiscent of this movie. Both contain a character that is just kind of "off". The crazy killer Norman Bates doesn't immediately strike his victim as a psychotic murderer, but you can definitely tell that something is not right in his head. In 39 Steps, the main character stays with a farmer and his wife in Scotland, the husband is extremely religiously zealous and suspicious; he has an unsettling presence on screen. The viewer knows that he is not trustworthy and is going to negatively impact the protagonist. This adds to the suspense because we do not know initially what is going to happen in that circumstance. Also, the concept of killing off a character early in the story is evident, in Psycho the "main" character is killed off fairly early in the film, in 39 Steps our hero appears to be shot and killed halfway through but survives due to a book hidden in his jacket. It's things like these that Hitchcock uses to mess with our minds, one of the reasons why he is known as the Master of Suspense.
This is classic Hitchcock, I love it.
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