Rebecca (1940)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

This film represents one of the things Alfred Hitchcock does best, and that is to work within the Hollywood studio system to craft a cerebral, but still accessible, psychological thriller. The movie has the spine of a typical Hollywood romance, but Hitchcock succeeds in riffing on the shadows of the past and how they can continue to haunt us forever. In the movie, Laurence Olivier's character marry's Joan Fontaine's character, and as she moves into his enormous mansion she finds that she has taken the place of his old wife (Rebecca), a woman who has evidently left some very big shoes to fill. The period in the film when Fontaine first moves into his mansion is the films best, because that's when we realize what Fontaine has gotten herself into. It's marvelous how Hitchcock creates the presence of Rebecca to be so eerie without ever showing her.

The romance of the film is not all that romantic because it's obvious early on that this is a woman who has married a man who wants her to be something else. It's a doomed romance from the get-go, and because of that the movie doesn't feel like a traditional Hollywood romance, instead it feels more like a gothic tragic romance, something much more unique for 1940's Hollywood. But as refreshing as this film is, Rebecca ends up morphing into a typical Hollywood murder mystery towards the end, when Rebecca's disappearance becomes a plot point and much of the tragedy goes away in favor of a murder mystery. The ending of the movie is significantly more uninteresting than the rest of the film, but besides that serious misstep, the movie is a wonderful gothic tragedy about a romance that is overshadowed by the past.

Grade: B+

Filmcap: The week of Oct 9-16

Rumble Fish, Germany Year Zero, and the epic fourth season of Breaking Bad. Only three things this week, but they're all very top notch. Only one week after the long Deadwood Season three post, I come back with an even longer post that is almost as long The Tree of Life post, but still not quite. The review of Breaking Bad has no detailed spoilers at all, and there are some statements about the trajectory of the show, nothing should be that bad. If you want to be completely pure of any and all spoilers, like some of the complex characteristics of Walt, then you may want to stay away. Otherwise I hope it will convince most of you to watch the show. For those who have seen the show, I point you towards the last paragraph for my thoughts on what the show is about on a macro level. 

Filmcap: The week of Sept 11-18

The Conversation, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, and Drive are some of the highlights of this week. Not quite as packed with great stuff as last week, but the great movies definitely continue. Included in this post are some discussions on the American perspective of Mexico, comedies of failures, and turning the political into the personal.

Filmcap: The week of May 22-29

A great week of movies this week. Two really good brand new yet-to-be-released 2011 films (sure to be two of the years most talked about amongst some circles), and then one movie released more than 50 years ago just to spice things up. Two great new filmmakers, and one all time great. 

Filmcap: The week of April 17-24

So I am officially about a week behind on these because of finals. Though I think I'll be able to catch up soon once finals die down. This week I finally finish Band of Brothers, some Italian World War II stories, one very artistic Iranian film, one very Hollywood-ish Iranian film, and two movies about bank robberies.

Filmcap: the week of Mar 20-27

In this post I've got a couple superb realist post-crisis foreign films, one from post-war Italy, and another is post-revolution Iran. A couple recent films, one brand new and horrible, the other from last year and amazing. Then there's a little-talked about film from a great director, and a much-talked about genre film I have finally watched. Also, links to two very good short films.

Filmcap: The week of Mar 6-13

This week I watched a couple great British dramas released more than 60 years apart, a couple only slightly above average star-studded American films also released more than 60 years apart, and then one mysterious Argentinean Oscar-winner (somehow I'm much more busy during spring break than normal which is why this filmcap was posted so late, so for that same reason don't expect a lot of movies for the next one). 

Filmcap: The week of Feb 27-Mar 6

A lot of movies this week that also broke the two week absence of no A/A- movies but also includes some well deserved B+'s. Coming up we've got two film noirs, two intimate European dramas, two surprisingly similar "black" movies, and one 2011 movie. 

Filmcap: The week of Feb 6-13

This week I watched a couple great foreign movies from the late 50's (Bergman and Kurosawa), what is known as the first ever film noir, a contemporary movie about an infamous African dictator, a fascinating documentary, and an also fascinating TV movie.

Filmcap: The week of Jan 23-30

(Could be a picture taken this week, but it's actually a still from a freakishly relevant movie made 40 years ago)

I watched two Italian films this week, one that features an American actress playing a Russian speaking Italian, and the other features no Italian at all, only French and Arabic. I also watched my third John Ford film thus far, the breakout dwarf movie, and a very unique addition to the growing neo-noir genre. 

Filmcap: The week of Jan 9-16

In this week's second ever installment of Fimcap I write about a movie with an amazing poster, the single best sports movie of all time, two early John Wayne-starring acclaimed westerns, and one of the independent movies that started all independent movies.