To select the top ten films of suspense master Hitchcock, authentic suspense films such as "Psycho" and "Rear Window" must be selected, and the entertaining commercial blockbuster "North by Northwest" should also have a name.
"North by Northwest" created a multi-scene conversion, plus the action-adventure movie of the combination of handsome men and women. The "007" series, "Mission Impossible" series and other classics are all later imitators.
It can be said that "North by Northwest" is the originator of the spy movie.
After the wear and tear of the years, this commercial blockbuster seems to have some clichéd plots and illogical logic, but the essence of it is even more glossy.
The first is the amazing suspense technique;
The second is the tangled emotions that the characters fall into.
As long as future directors can learn these two points, it will not be far from making top-level commercial films.
The whole film can be divided into seven major paragraphs, each of which is raising suspense or revealing suspense.
The first segment has a total of six scenes, four main scenes and two transition scenes.
From the street scene, the actor, the advertising businessman Roger;
Switch to the restaurant through the interior scene of the car, and a kidnapping incident occurs;
Transition to Townsend's house through the interior scene of the car, and meet the big devil;
By the end of the car chase and escape scene, the progress bar has only passed 18 minutes.
In 18 minutes, the movie throws three big suspense.
①Why did the Great Demon King carry out the kidnapping operation?
②Who is Mr. Kaplan?
③How does Roger clear the siege?
The first paragraph answered the third suspense by himself, and Roger still realized the scene transition through the vehicle as a vehicle.
And there is a questionable logical question in the middle.
The two killers could have strangled or stabbed Roger directly, so why did they have to create a fake car accident?
It can only be said that the big devil, a criminal group, does not want to provoke the police. Ordinary drunken car accidents are fine, but vicious murders may attract the attention of the FBI and sabotage their original plan.
The first and second suspense is brought to the second paragraph.
Although Roger has his life back, his troubles have only just begun.
He was charged by the police for drunk driving.
Kidnapped for no reason and charged for no reason, Roger is cornered overnight.
There were two options before him.
The first is to admit that he is unlucky and at least save his life; the second is to fight for his own innocence.
From the first paragraph of Roger's tough attitude in the face of the big devil, we can know that he is not a person who is easily submissive.
However, when he hurriedly explained the truth, it became more and more smeared.
Until the murder of the United Nations, he became a wanted criminal.
The success of the second paragraph is that without giving Roger a chance to breathe, more suspense ensues.
④What is the true identity of the Great Demon King?
⑤Why even the hotel staff treat Roger as Kaplan?
⑥ How does Roger prove his innocence?
It may be that the audience is worried that there are too many suspense. The film directly released the FBI's internal meeting in the third paragraph, explaining the ins and outs of the matter.
This is the key scene to understand the plot. If you watch it carefully, you can solve the suspense of the first, the second and the fourth and the fifth.
It also raises a new suspense.
⑦Who is the undercover?
Then, there are only two suspense left to continue the plot (6 and 7).
Roger, who was in a desperate situation, had only one option left: escape. At the same time, he was determined to find out the truth himself, and only when he got to the bottom of the matter, at least some evidence, would he have the capital to go to the police.
At this time, about a third of the progress bar has passed, and the heroine Eve finally appears, a blond beauty typical of Hitchcock movies.
Then came the suspense again.
⑧Why is Eve so "righteous"?
⑨ What is the relationship between Eve and the Great Demon King?
After the train scene in the third segment, Roger follows Eve's instructions to a clearing of wheat fields.
There is a knife on the so-called color head, and such a beautiful woman throws her arms in her arms. Nine times out of ten, she is suspected of "immortal jumping".
Therefore, the fourth paragraph is the most shocking "fairy jumping" scene in film history - the pursuit of the plane.
Even if the plot of driving a plane out to kill is a bit unreasonable, Hitchcock created an amazing visual impact with his sharp sub-lens. When North by Northwest was released in 1959 , such a visual spectacle was unprecedented.
Looking at Roger's sour experience, the two suspense about Eve were basically answered.
She must have been with the Great Demon King, and she had a purpose in approaching Roger.
Kidnapped, wrongfully prosecuted, wanted, and nearly killed by a beautiful woman, if John McClane was the unluckiest cop in movie history, Roger was the unluckiest advertiser.
At this time, the anger overwhelmed the fear of being chased and killed.
He found Eve again for an explanation.
At this time, Eva Marie Saint showed Eve's inner unease with her acting skills, and then another suspense came.
⑩What is Eve's true identity?
It's just that the suspense didn't last long, in fact, many viewers can quickly guess it.
The 10th suspense is more about advancing the plot. In the sixth paragraph, when the FBI chief in charge of the Great Demon King's case revealed Eve's identity, he also pushed the plot to a climax.
Roger, who had been kept in the dark, knew why he was in trouble, and how to prove his innocence. The sixth suspense was resolved.
The suspense of the plot immediately shifted to Eve.
⑪ Can Eve escape from danger?
⑫ Will her mission be successful?
The task of the climax of the seventh paragraph is to solve the last two suspense.
The exciting pursuit of the Mount Rushmore Monument, Hitchcock, of course, wanted to shoot live, but was rejected by the US authorities, so he had to build a model of the Mount Rushmore Monument in the studio to shoot.
Hitchcock even thought about making Roger sneeze in the nose of the statue of Lincoln, otherwise why would he laugh at the movie titled "The Man on Lincoln's Nose".
It's a pity that it didn't work out in the end, otherwise this is definitely the most controversial scene in American film history.
Martin Scorsese talked about North by Northwest in an article in response to Marvel's rhetoric .
He thinks the film's technique is amazing, but without the agonizing emotion at the heart of the story, Cary Grant's character isn't completely disorientated, it's just a series of dynamic, elegant compositions and edits.
Hitchcock's suspense is the key to making the movie wonderful and good-looking, but "North by Northwest" can be called a classic by later generations, and the more important point is the emotion of the characters.
The experience of the male protagonist Roger is extraordinary. He has experienced confusion, anger, pain, guilt and other emotions. He has also grown from an ordinary advertising businessman to a real warrior.
There is a saying that the name of the film comes from the play "Hamlet", which is a metaphor for the reality that is difficult to grasp.
The whole story is just about how Roger regained the initiative in a very passive, bad reality, and finally returned to the beauty.
And through his story, we can also sum up a truth.
When trouble comes to you, take the initiative to find the source of trouble, and then you can change from passive to active. Like Roger, if he doesn't take the initiative to find out the truth, it's the equivalent of putting his own destiny in the hands of the FBI.
Then he can only be chased by the big devil all the time, chased by the police, and then resigned.
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