Dial "M" for Movie: My Introduction to Alfred Hitchcock

As part of being a film major, I am privileged to study film texts and analyze from various points of view. This semester is no different. My Tuesday night class is "Film Theory and Criticism." The class title is self-explanatory, but this class narrows its scope to studying one of the most influential film directors Alfred Hitchcock and how he is an auteur (or author) of films.

A LOT of people know who Hitchcock is or have at least heard of him. A couple of his most famous works are Psycho (1960) and The Birds (1963). And I know what you're thinking, "Well geeze, Becca. You must know all about Hitchcock being a film major and all!" Hahaha...no...not all.

I know; I'm like the worst film major ever, but I saw part of The Birds when I was little and was all, "Ohmygosh!!! Those birds are freakin' killing people! WHAAAT!" Plus, other elements were against Hitchcock films in my eyes....Ok, just one. I don't really like a ton of older movies (what a bad film major I am), but like anything prior to 1980 I probably won't go out of my way to watch. (Exceptions of course exist, namely The Sound of Music [1965] and White Christmas [1954].)

However, this class provides me the opportunity to view about 12 Hitchcock films. And I must say the two I've seen so far have been incredibly entertaining! Go figure!

The 39 Steps

We've viewed The 39 Steps (1935) and The Lady Vanishes (1938) thus far. After hearing Hitchcock was the master of the macabre, thrills, and horror, I was a bit concerned; I hate scary movies (I'm a baby; give me a rom-com any day). But surprisingly both films were incredibly funny. Not "omg this movie is so old it's funny" or "haha that was such a funny joke they made." It had subtle humor, my favorite brand. I love Hitchcock's use of visuals, visual humor and visual subtlety. And the endings left me satisfied, even happy.

The Lady Vanishes

The 39 Steps was very episodic in terms the main character getting into trouble and then out of trouble, repeated multiple times, which actually kept my interest. And I loved the dynamic between Hannay and Pamela, the two main characters. The Lady Vanishes definitely reminded me of Flightplan (2005): a young woman is bumped on the head and has a cute old lady help her on the train they're about to get on; they drink tea, chat, get seen by numerous passengers, etc.; the young woman goes down for a nap and wakes up to find the old lady is missing and everyone claims to have never seen the old lady and proceeds to think the young woman is crazy from the bump on her head. We spend the whole movie trying to figure out what happened, and let me tell you, I was super exhausted that night (I thought I might fall asleep in class) but this movie kept me engaged. I desperately yearned to know what the hell was going on.

Overall, I'm enjoying my Hitchcockian exposure. This Tuesday I'll be viewing my biopic, Rebecca (1940). It's like Hitch knew I'd be watching. Peace.