Rope (Hitchcock, 1948 - Library Interlude D)

The Rope was and incredibly powerful and visceral movie. In this movie (which I gather to be a large departure from the rest) Hitchcock does something I absolutely love to see in movies (I know Wes Anderson does this too) he films the movie in such a way that it seems we're watching a play right up close. It also takes place in only one room; decor, set, place, all very important to this movie. Upon further research (which I conducted while watching the movie, which is quite a marvelous feat in and of itself - a testament to the achievement of modern information systems) I learned that it's based on the real life events of two brilliant U of Chicago students who were ironically inspired by fiction, in the form of Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra's ubermensch.

The transition of concept-matter is mapped in the following way:

philosophy becomes duty becomes didactic becomes art-fiction (Nietzsche) becomes hastily consumed knowledge (aka shoddy knowledge) becomes philosophy becomes duty becomes action-person or person-action (Leopold and Loeb) becomes horror-legendary-analyzed
-sensationalized becomes art-fiction-story (Compulsion) becomes art-fiction-play (Hamilton) becomes art-fiction-movie (Hitchcock) becomes hastily consumed knowledge (once removed aka O.R. shoddy knowledge) becomes my-obscure-epiphany becomes this brief film-life-essay-review (Charon)*.

What a powerful movie to have appeared in 1948. It makes me temporarily shameful of wholesome cherished comedies like the Andy Griffith Show and Leave it to Beaver - essentially, the shows of black and white that we've come to associate with that period of time.

This has certainly sparked an interest in reading up on these anti-nihilistic existentialists. To paraphrase Jimmy Stewart from the movie, it's giving me cause to achieve clarity in a world where a relentless, but fallible shroud of darkness has clouded my judgement. In regard to James Stewart, I have a newfound respect for him and his acting career, only two weeks ago (before viewing Vertigo and Rope) I had simply thought of him as the Tom Cruise of yesteryear, a portrait purely based on his performance in It's a Wonderful Life.

*(add " becomes utter self-aggrandizement ")