Heart Wrenching Revelations In Rope (Hitchcock).

Hitchcock's Rope film is about two friends who perform a murder to satisfy their belief of

possesing superior intellectual capabilities. After having strangled their friend and hiding him in

a box, they prepare the same box as the dinner table and have their friends they have invited

come over to eat on it, all of them being oblivious of the devilish act. Their objective in inviting

friends over is to metaphorically hang the portrait they have painted, they regard their murder an

artful act and this dinner is a celebration of that. This paper will be an analysis of a fraction of a

scene from 38:28 to 40:28. This scene is important because it summarizes everything that

happens in the film and also gives a flash of the characters and their roles and relationships to

the deceased David.

Rope is primarily made up of long takes and this scene is also one of them, that makes the

continuity in this scene only depend on the camera zooming in or out. This becomes particularly

useful in scenes where medium shots were taken. There is a medium shot as Kenneth and

Janet are speaking to highlight the intimate connection that has formed the basis of their

relationship, there is also barely any distance between the two. In the mise en scene, we also

see flowers in the shot, as some romantic and soothing diegetic music plays in the background

complementing and establishing their romantic background. The long takes made it easier for

the director to make this a real time film in which everything that happened in the film would

have taken the exact same amount of time in real life as well. They also made the film feel much

more real as the audience would feel like they are part of the entire setting and move together

with the camera. The camera follows the actors as they move from one place to another in the

room, even creating a more intimate connection between this setting and the audience. When

Brandon reaches the climax of his argument with Mr Kently and Rupert interrupts them, the

camera shifts laterally from Brandon to Rupert with great speed, adding on to the chaos that

was culminating. Then at 39:11 the camera zooms out as everyone is included in the

conversation again, giving two interesting aspects of mise en scene figure movements. The first

one being how Philip, who had been quiet and not contributing in the entirety of the

conversation, cheats in and out of the scene, not having his face shown at all. This speaks to

Philips guilt and fear of coming out into the light and being discovered for murdering David.

When Philip appears, from the right side it is also noteworthy that he seemed to be

superimposed on Brandon, as if they were being compared, all reflecting their shared

philosophy and crime they had committed. Mrs. Atwater was also shown in the background and

within a very tiny gap, sometimes not at all, She was also the only one who presumably did not

account for any tension in the room, she was the unplanned piece of Brandon’s art piece.

Brandon confirms this by treating her dismissively and rudely when she mentions reading

books.

The mise en scene is relatively static, given that the whole scene is in the same room, however

the director uses different parts of the room to portray different meanings. Outside the window,

we see a huge city, with skyscrapers, the point of elevation of the mise en scene is still higher

than most of them, which also signals that Brandon and Philip live in quite an affluent part of a

town in an apartment. This also gives more context on their crime, that it is coming from a place

of privilege, where the two have repeatedly viewed the world and its people as beneath them.

The background from the window looked lavish and the lighting was quite constant, and the fact

that it later on becomes dark was almost unnoticeable, this would be to accomplish the effect

that the scene is supposed to feel as it happened. Judging by the shadows in the film, the

lighting was highly likely frontal and top lighting to portray broad daylight.

At 38:28, one of the medium close ups in the film, Brandon asserts how he would hang all

incompetents and fools. This scene summarizes what is happening in the film, Brandon almost

references strangling and hanging and death every chance he gets. It is interesting how he

chose to say he would hang people, which implies using a rope. This brings out how he is

itching to have his genius recognised, to hang the portrait of murder that he has just made. This

notably brings great discomfort to Mr. Kently, who seems to be a very moral man. Showing the

two in the same frame has a contrasting effect on their morals especially as they argued and

defended their positions. The way both came on strongly reflects on Brandons already executed

plan and perhaps the lingering fear in Mr. Kently over where his child could be. The figure

expressions, particularly the facial expressions that Brandon displays as Mr. Kently speaks,

paint him as an arrogant , pompous and nonchalant character who is not bothered by any moral

obligations whatsoever.

The film, although largely entertaining and suspenseful to watch, had a great cinematic

expression purpose as well. At the time of it’s shooting, the director possibly intended to speak

to Leornad and Loeb who had brutally murdered a student in 1904 “as a demonstration of their

ostensible intellectual superiority”(Lane pp. 106). Having prior knowledge about Bobby Franks’

story, it is heartbreaking to watch the film, because it is not just some impressive imagination but

a jab of cinematic realism, showing us elements of what and how happened. Brandon, a

resoundingly charming character, could be a representation of how Loeb persuaded Bobby to

enter their car before kidnapping him. Brandon’s charm is subtly highlighted in this scene as he

charms Mrs. Atwater to leave the room with him, all in a bid to create a moment between

Kenneth and Janet.

The costumes of the characters also seems to have spoken volumes about their roles in the

scene, both Philip and Kenneth were wearing brown suits, brown a color often associated with

the earth has both negative and positive connotations associated with it, ranging from

dependability to loneliness as it is a dull color. We are shown Philips dependability as he escorts

the guests and although dark being a murder partner to Brandon. In the last part of the scene

when Kenneth turns on the music and speaks to Janet, he looks at her intently, however she

does not turn even once to make eye contact with him showing how isolated Kenneth is indeed,

even heartbroken and still hopeful to reconcile with Janet, who has already moved on. Janet is

wearing red, often symbolizing love and passion. We also have two “men in gray suits”, Rupert

and Mr. Kentley, the phrase which refers to powerful people but no one knows their names.

Rupert and Mr. Kentley have had the most powerful influence in shaping the characters of

David, Philip and Brandon respectively, however with respect to this murder, they would be

considered to have barely played any part in it, also resembling the neutrality of the color gray.

One of the most notable aspects of this scene was how everyone was dancing to Brandon’s

tune. He charmed his way into making everyone do what he wanted them to do, from asking

Mrs. Atwater out of the room, to making Kenneth play the music, to making Janet want him to

see her. The director successfully expressed how Brandon was in control, only until Rupert

interrupted his flow as the argument intensified. This points out to how Rupert was smarter and

faster at reading social cues than Brandon, and also how Brandon immediately apologized and

took Rupert’s suggestion, teasing at how he acts on Rupert’s words. Hitchcock draws many

parallels from the murder of Leopold and Loed, in a seemingly simple way. He also expresses

and makes a point about the importance of being careful about the words we speak with other

people as they may trigger them emotionally or lead them to commit sinister acts.

Lane, Brian (1995). Chronicle of 20th Century Murder. New York: Berkley Books. ISBN978-0425146491.