Alfred Hitchcock shot 54 films for the cinema and all have one thing in common, a style recognizable among thousands from the first minutes of the film. In free movies you can have the best options.
Hitchcock has used (and some critics blame him) the same recipes throughout his 54 films:
The MacGuffin
MacGuffin is a fundamental concept in Hitchcock’s cinema. The origin of the word comes from the following story, told by Hitchcock:
Two travelers are on a train in England. One says to the other, “Excuse me Sir, but what is that weird-looking package over your head?” “Oh, it’s a MacGuffin. Does it serve? -This is used to trap lions in the mountains of Scotland, but there is no lion in the mountains of Scotland, so there is no MacGuffin. “
Hitchcock often quoted this story as a mockery of those who demand a rational explanation for all elements of a film.
What interests him is to manipulate the viewer, to wander through the story and be as scared as the hero or heroine of his film (Hitchcock liked to say that he made his films before everything for the others and that it was very difficult to understand those who realized by pure navel-gazing).
In Hitchcock’s films, the MacGuffin is often an element of the story that serves to initialize or even justify it but which turns out to be of little importance during the course of the film.
In Psychosis
The MacGuffin is the money stolen by Marion from his boss at the beginning of the film, it goes without saying that the sequel is so fascinating that the money is quickly forgotten, but it is he who initiated the story.
The apparitions
From the movie Rebecca, Hitchcock will appear most often in his films to the point that the viewer is very disappointed when he cannot see it. This attitude is extremely rare in a director because many of them never show on the screen. This is still one of the ambiguities of the personality of Hitchock who was all his life became complex by his physique but did not miss an opportunity to show himself.
Some appearances have become almost more famous than films like The Unknown of the North-express, in which he climbs a train with a double bass.
The pursuit
The pursuit is a striking feature of Hitchcock’s films. In October 1950 he declared:
“In the ideal structure for a pursuit, the pace and complexity of the pursuit will accurately reflect the intensity of the relationship between the characters.”
The prosecution is a fundamental asset for the development of a scenario of a suspense movie: continued, the main character is baffled and embarks on a mad flight ahead that feeds the scenario.
The very example of the chase film is The Killing in which the main character does not even know why he is being sued.
Stairs
The staircase is a major element of Hitchcock’s films. It appears from the first films (in The lodger for example), but especially in Psychose during the murder of detective Arbogast.
The stairs are also used in the crime was almost perfect. Even if there is not the same dramatic dimension, this is where the villain hides the key of the apartment.
