In this essay I shall be analysing a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s first Hollywood film, ‘Rebecca’, in which the cinematic elements contribute to the overall narrative structure of the film. The scene in question is where the new Mrs de Winter enters Rebecca’s room for the first time, only to be interrupted by the chilling Mrs Danvers. Cinematic elements such as sound, editing, and cinematography contribute to the narrative function of the scene. It does this by showing Mrs de Winter as weak; Mrs Danver’s devotion to her late mistress; the overwhelming presence of Rebecca in Manderley; and establishing the genre of a thriller.
This scene gives the audience a further insight into Mrs de Winter’s character, and adds to the narrative structure of the film by clearly showing her as a weak person, unsuited to being the mistress of a house such as Manderley. In doing this, Hitchcock gives an explanation for some of her actions previously in the film, like when she flinches at the sight of Mrs Danvers. When Mrs de Winter enters the room, we get a shot of a large door, which zooms in to the doorknob. This close up draws out the action of opening the door and allows the viewer to understand Mrs de Winter’s apprehensiveness at going into the room. David Greven describes her as a ‘shy, awkward, bumbling heroine’ , and this is shown by her lack of confidence in entering the room, which she should have no reservations about since she is the new Mrs de Winter. We then get a close up of her hand turning the doorknob, which is the focal point of the shot and draws the audience in to the diagesis. In Bordwell and Thompson’s ‘Film Art’, they state a close up shows ‘just the head, hands, feet, or a small object’ , and in this case it shows Joan Fontaine’s hand. They also state it ‘emphasizes…the details of a gesture’ , so Hitchcock may have included this close-up shot to create drama and make the audience pay attention to the scene that is about to unfold. As she reaches for the door handle, there is another technical element of non-diagetic music, which creates dramatic tension. The technical elements of this short moment in the scene adds to overall form of the film as a thriller.
Through the use of close-ups, Hitchcock shows Mrs de Winter as weak, as we see her terrified expression zoomed in. In the climax of the scene, there is a medium two shot of the two female characters, and Mrs Danvers asks Mrs de Winter, ‘Do you think the dead come back and watch the living?’, in which Mrs de Winter looks tearfully away. In creating the dramatic final two shot which increases suspense, ‘Hitchcock worked for over an hour, photographing fifteen takes and printing only the fifth and tenth’ , which shows just how important this shot is to the scene. The lighting in this shot also helps to show Mrs de Winter as weak as it catches the light on her tears and makes the scene on the cusp of being melodramatic. The high contrast photography in this scene also creates tension and drama, with Mrs Danvers’ dark costume contrasting the bright light on her face. When Mrs Danvers says ‘Sometimes, I wonder if she doesn’t come back here to Manderley…’ the camera zooms in to a close-up of both of them. David Huckvale described the ‘immense psychological power of the monumentalizing close up’ , and this close up creates dramatic tension when combined with the notion that Rebecca may still be haunting Manderley. Ken Dancyger stated that ‘Alfred Hitchcock, in essence, created in the UK – the thriller, beginning with Rebecca’ , and the idea that Rebecca is a ghostly spirit in Manderley adds to this genre.
Mrs de Winter is shown as weak and ill-suited to life at Manderley through the use of long shots. These long shots establish the size and grandeur of the rooms in Manderley, and Mrs de Winter is dwarfed in comparison. After she has entered Rebecca’s room, we get a long establishing shot of the bedroom, and Mrs de Winter stands timidly in the middle. This parallels other moments in the film where ‘the heroine [is viewed] as a slight, hunched figure, scampering through the massively decorated rooms.’ Earlier in the film there are many long shots of Manderley, like when she is eating at a large dining table, or when she stands on grand steps leading upstairs. In ‘Film Art’ long shots are described with having ‘figures more prominent, but the background still dominates’ , which mirrors how Manderley dominates Mrs de Winter and how she has not taken charge or developed as a character yet.
The narrative function of this scene is also to show the extent of Mrs Danvers’ devotion to Rebecca. When recalling what Rebecca would do in the evenings, sound is used to highlight this almost obsessive devotion. The non-diagetic music creates a romantic, dreamlike effect. This reinforces to the audience that ‘everyone loved her’, as Mrs Danvers recalls, and makes the viewer understand the type of woman Rebecca was. This longer, uninterrupted take makes the audience concentrate on the mise-en-scéne, and be captivated by the dreamlike state. Mrs Danvers says to Mrs de Winter that she ‘always waited up for her’, and this explains why Mrs Danvers may not like the new Mrs de Winter as she is so clearly devoted to her mistress. In this scene I feel that there are homosexual undertones of the true relationship between Rebecca and Mrs Danvers, and other critics have written similar things. For example, when Mrs Danvers shows Mrs de Winter Rebecca’s fur coat there is a medium close up of a shot/reverse shot sequence, where Mrs Danvers has an ‘animal-like intensity’ in her eyes. This shows her devotion to Rebecca, but also could suggest something more, especially with the match on action editing of stroking both their faces with the soft fur coat. When this is paired with the non-diagetic romantic string music in the background, it could be argued that it creates a Sapphic layer to the scene.
The homosexual undertones that may explain Mrs Danvers’ devotion to Rebecca is highlighted again when she shows Mrs de Winter the lacy nightgown Rebecca owned. On the bed there is an embroidered cushion with the letter ‘R’ on it, which we see through an insert. This insert makes the audience focus on the object in question, which we learn Mrs Danvers made for Rebecca. Whilst Rebecca was alive, one could argue that Mrs Danvers contented herself by knowing that Rebecca slept on something she made, but now she is dead, Danvers has to make do with keeping her nightgown inside the pillow. The lighting on the insert falls directly onto the ‘R’ which makes it the focal point of the shot. David Greven would agree that Danvers has romantic feelings towards Rebecca, and this scene foreshadows the end of the film where ‘she sets Manderly ablaze, dying in the flames that suggest, in Freudian terms, the sexual desire kindled in her still by her devotion to Rebecca’ . The non-diagetic romantic music in the background increases the Sapphic inclination of Mrs Danvers, and the underlying homosexual tone to the technical elements of this scene adds to the narrative structure of the film
Danvers’ devotion to Rebecca is also shown through her meticulous knowledge of her late mistress, and her obsessive demeanour towards her things. Not only does she show Mrs de Winter Rebecca’s wardrobe, but also her underwear, her dressing table, and her nightgown. She notes that Mrs de Winter ‘moved her brush’ and states ‘there, that’s better’ once she has moved it fractionally back to its proper place. As this is going on the Mise en scéne sets the tone of unsettledness, and the camera slowly zooms in to a close up of Mrs de Winter’s stricken expression. Rebecca’s things are ‘ritualistically displayed and handled’ by Mrs Danvers, and this parallels earlier in the film when Mrs de Winter accidentally smashes a statue belonging to Rebecca. When Mrs de Winter doesn’t come forward Mrs Danvers is quick to place the blame, as the act of smashing something belonging to Rebecca deeply angers her. This develops Mrs Danver’s character and is one way in which this scene adds to the narrative structure of the film, as Danvers’ devotion to Rebecca is clearly highlighted again.
This scene in ‘Rebecca’ is pivotal to the narration of the film because it increases the overwhelming presence of Mr de Winter’s late wife. Earlier in the film we get glimpses into this, such as the abundance of stationary with ‘Rebecca de Winter’ on it, but in this scene her presence is all-consuming. Her lingering identity is enough so that ‘the most beautiful room in the house’ is not used for anything else other than to be a shrine to Rebecca. This links to Mrs Danvers’ aforementioned devotion to Rebecca, as the bedroom is kept as a ‘monument to the spirit whose presence engulfs Manderley’ . When Mrs de Winter is sat at Rebecca’s dressing table, the camera zooms in to a close up of her face, before slowly panning to the left to show a close up of a framed photo of Mr de Winter. The shot could be considered a point-of-view shot, as we see Mrs de Winter’s eyes move down to the photo, and the camera pans in the same way as her eyes would move. This photo which was blurred, comes into focus during this pan of the camera. The photo of Maxim on the table remind Mrs de Winter and the audience that Rebecca had his love first, and Leonard J. Leff argues, ‘silently taunts’ her. Mrs de Winter must feel ‘taunted’ not only due to this, but by all other things in the house that Rebecca had an influence on. This scene is pivotal to the narrative of the film as after seeing so many objects that relate to Rebecca, Mrs de Winter commands Mrs Danvers to ‘get rid of all these things’, showing character development in the next scene.
One way in which technical elements show the overwhelming presence of Rebecca in the house is through lighting and shadows. When Mrs Danvers gets out the lace nightgown, Mrs de Winter is pressed up against the wall, covered in shadows from an elaborate bunch of flowers. The floral shadows that cover Mrs de Winter could reflect how she feels as if she is in Rebecca’s shadow, trying and failing to be a competent mistress of a large house. The critic Leonard J. Leff would agree, and argues that the shadows represent how Mrs de Winter is ‘entrapped by all that Rebecca meant to those at Manderley’ . This is not the first instance that floral shadows are used in the film, and therefore could be a motif in showing Rebecca’s presence in the house. David Huckvale commented, ‘Shadows were no one’s particular trademark, but Hitchcock shared Clouzot’s use of them in ‘Rebecca’’ , which adds to the gothic atmosphere.
In conclusion, elements such as Mise-en-scéne, editing, cinematography and sound make the narrative function of the scene clear, which is to portray Mrs de Winter as weak, show Mrs Danver’s devotion to Rebecca, and to highlight the overwhelming presence of Rebecca in Manderley. In doing all of this it also adds to the overall genre of a thriller, and the scene is key in the narrative system of the entire film. Without this scene, the audience would not have an awareness of potential homosexual undertones in the relationship between Danvers and Rebecca, and they also would not see just how engrained Rebecca’s presence is in Manderley and to all those who live and work there. In this sense, this scene is pivotal in the narrative system of Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’.