In Rope, we are immediately introduced to two astute and intelligent young
men who have a strange obsession for the perfect murder. The young men plan and execute what they believe to be an untraceable and undetectable murder but at the last moment one of the young men gets a bit cocky and decided to take a few risks. They strangle their former classmate in their apartment and stuff him in a decorative chest/box that is situated in the living room.
They want to authenticate the crime as an academic cognitive expertise and in turn validate their supremacy. Brandon and Phillip throw a dinner event at their apartment with the chest containing the body remaining as the centerpiece to the evening. The guests remain unaware of what lies amongst them in the room. Among the guests invited is the father of the victim, the finance of the victim, the aunt and the former instructor /supervisor from the university they attended. Brandon who is the true diabolical mastermind behind the murder decided to make the chest as the dinner table rather than eat at the regular dining table. Brandon wanted to create a “work of art” with this murder and he honestly believes his former supervisor who had once discussed the very topic of “murder” with them in an approving way would be proud of their success on executing the perfect murder. Throughout the night Brandon tempts fate over and over again by bringing up the topic of murder to be discussed during the event, as well as the odd tardiness of David, the victim. Rupert begins to become suspicious of the odd behavior of the young men and begins to pick up on the inconsistencies of the stories being told as they do not match up or have many flaws. The uneasiness beings to heighten in the room as guests being to worry about David who has yet to arrive. Brandon gives the victims father a bundle of books tied with the rope used to strangle his son. When the guests begin to leave the party Rupert gets handed the victims monogrammed hat by accident. Everyone leaves but then a few moments later Rupert returns pretending to have left his cigar box but in truth, his conscience won't let him leave. Rupert begins to theorize about Davids disappearance and is highly motivated by Brandon to continue. Brandon in a way wanted someone to recognize his generousness and possibly applaud his effort and masterful artwork that he created with this particularly clever murder.
Rupert removes the lid and finally discovers the body of David inside. He recognizes the fact that he is at part to blame for once theorizing and encouraging this concept even if it was just a theory. Rupert had a moment of epiphany reputes his former theory about superiority and inferiority and using Brandon's gun fires a round of shots outside to attract the attention of the police and then grabs a chair beside Davids body and puts a protective hand on the chest.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope is one of the most revered motion picture Dramas. Not only was it Alfred Hitchcock’s first colored film but Hitchcock put a lot of work behind shooting this movie in a very new innovative and creative way. The entire movie is shot in the small confined apartment of the killers which heightens the claustrophobic feeling, and tension throughout the movie. Another thing to be noted was the successfully produced frame, Hitchcock carried out of the same continuous and repetitive shot in 10 min takes which at the time was unheard of. Hitchcock's idea behind this was that he wanted to create a film parallel to that of the play and that took place within the true time of the story to give it a more authentic feel. Therefore Hitchcock wanted to create this movie in one long uninterrupted take, however, the cameras could only hold 10 minutes worth of film, hence why Hitchcock creates a disguised and quite frankly deceiving break throughout the movie. A good example of this would be when the camera zooms into the picture frame hanging on the wall and then zooms out.
However, camera techniques weren’t the only thing Hitchcock decided to push the limits with, he also danced on a very fine line with the “Hays code” which was the moral guidelines that movies had to abide by during this period of time. In the movie Rope, Hitchcock alluded to a romantic relationship amongst the two main male characters Brandon and Philip. The implied homosexuality caused great controversy at the time and even though the movie slipped by from being censored several American cities banned the controversial movie. Hitchcock who’s known for taking many risks didn’t shy away from constantly implying homosexual undertones in many of his movies especially rope. The subject of homosexuality was tip-toed around throughout the film and was even referred to as “it” on set as it was not outright said or acknowledged. This created a lot of controversy and lash-back at the time. Another interesting factor is that the two gay characters were considered as the villains in the story which is how society at the time viewed homosexuals. In a way, the entire film was one big trope for homosexuality.
Rope, is an underrated bold masterpiece created in a clever way to argue different untouchable issues such as homosexuality and superiority without ever truly outright crossing a line. This movie is a form of artwork highly unappreciated by many people at the time. They viewed this movie as too daring and explicit which in their eyes made it socially unacceptable. They did not appreciate the stunt of shooting the film in supposedly one long stretched out take, in fact, they saw it as boring or monotonous not adding to the tension.
I however completely disagree I believe the dedication and cleverness that went into creating this movie shined throughout. Hitchcock's efforts paid off in my opinion in heightening the tension which is felt from the very first moment I agree with the critics with the fact that I could foresee the fact that the killers would be discovered especially with the boldness and cockiness of Brandon's plan, however, the beauty of the movie was in the question “when” rather than “how” Hitchcock teased the viewers with the chest many times throughout the movie. for example the shot in which the maid clear the food off of the chest and begins to restore everything in its proper place was excruciatingly painful to watch because you’re not entirely sure if this is the moment they will get discovered and the take is very long the maid makes several trips from the chest to the kitchen and then grabs the books from the dining room to put them back in their rightful place unknowing that the chest is occupied. The film touches on many great points about superiority and inferiority, the killers killed David because he was simply “ordinary” and they believed “intellectually- and culturally-superior human beings are above conventional morality,” which is a very distinct way of thinking, of course, two took it to an extreme but the concept itself exists. throughout the evening Brandon drops many double-entendres to feed his vanity because to him all these guests were idiots and would not be able to figure it out and the game of cat and mouse seemed to, in a way, arouse or thrill him. Rupert’s epiphany is one of the main focal points in the movie his character had the most significant transformation because he began as an advocate for the theory of superiority and even agreed with Brandon during their conversation about the perfect murder however at the very when his theory is actually carried out the implication of said actions causes him to revise his theory. Rupert realizes the consequence of his concept of superiority and gives a heartfelt speech when having this epiphany “you've thrown my own words back in my face… you’ve given my words a meaning that I’ve never dreamed of” which brings me to my point that concepts and theories sometimes have dire consequences if they were actually applied or tested out. Rupert who is, in a way, an example everyday individual is ashamed of himself at the end he even thanks Brandon for the “shame” he made him feel about his former concepts of inferior and superiority. This was a wake up call for Rupert and maybe even for the audience who during this time period and in that society were big on superiority and inferiority. No life is more superior than the other “we each of us are separate human beings with the right to live and work and think as individuals” a powerful and clear message to conclude the story from a very powerful movie.