Rope

Rope by Alfred Hitchcock

Movie : Rope

Director : Alfred Hitchcock

Starring : James Stewart, John Dall

This movie is based on a play by  Patrick Hamilton, which in turn was inspired by the real life case of Leopold and Loeb.

It’s the story of two men who follow the teachings of Fredrick Nietzsche and think of themselves as part of an elite class of  “Supermen”. They believe they have the right to murder any person who belongs to the inferior class.

Their philosophy is based on the teachings of their mentor, Rupert Cadell, their ex-school master. At the beginning of the movie, the two men (John Dall and Farley Granger) murder their friend Dick Kentley and organize a party to celebrate their “perfect murder”

The rest of the movie is about how the suspicious Cadell learns the truth behind the party.

What’s remarkable about this movie is the use of long takes without cuts. The movie itself is set in real time and thus mirrors the play it is based on. Alfred Hitchcock uses ten minute takes and even the cuts are hardly noticable. This is a truly remarkable piece of film-making, especially because it is very hard to direct long takes.

This movie is a must watch if you like character dramas and murder mysteries…although here it’s more suspense than mystery.

WATCH THIS MOVIE IF: You’re a fan of suspense movies and like watching plays.

DON’T WATCH THIS MOVIE IF: You only like action adventures and gun toting gangsters