What I liked about Strangers on a Train was that the subject of switching murders was made clear from the very start of the film and the viewer is then caught up with the intrigue of the plot and interest is maintained throughout.
I also thought that the subject of switching murders was unusual with each individual having no motive whatsoever for committing the other persons murder. The plot was well thought out and I was particularly impressed with the merry-go-round crash scene towards the end.
Hitchcock uses natural light; shadows formed by buildings and the brim of hats to form contrasts well. I liked the scene where Bruno meets Guy outside of his house to inform him that he has murdered his wife; the two talking through metal-railed gates, reminiscent of prison bars, confirms Guy’s hopeless situation and enhances the moment. This could be recreated with any metal-railed gates, possibly on location with a full moon, or with a prop in the studio.
Hitchcock has cleverly used props to help capture dramatic moments, such as the silhouette of Bruno strangling Miriam is captured through the reflection of the unbroken concave lens of her spectacles laying on the floor. The distorted shapes only serve to increase the horror of the scene. I would like to be able to recreate this shot, the advantage of it is that Bruno and Miriam are distorted figures in the shot but to capture the strangulation in the reflection will require a selection of sunglasses and selective lighting to bring about the best recreation.
The film has its comical moments too. The scene where Bruno bursts the annoying boy in the cowboy outfit’s balloon made me laugh. This too could be recreated quite easily with a spot of fancy dress. The film ends on a comical point too when a vicar repeats Bruno’s opening remark whilst on a train and Guy just ups and leaves without saying a word!
Bruno likes to use the word “criss-cross” a lot which is unusual and we (English) would have used the word switch. Criss-cross is to mark with cross lines like an “x” but criss-cross is a regular feature in the film and starts with the departure of the train with camera angle low to capture the train travelling over the points. The American for points is “switch” and I thought that photographing some points would recapture this scene. Having looked at a few locations much of the points at stations have been removed over the past 50 years but locations like Laira or Exeter might prove fruitful. The criss-cross theme is repeated in the tennis racquet logo on the cigarette lighter.
Much of the film is done in a railway carriage. This could easily be recreated either with modern railway stock sitting opposite one another or alternatively using the observation coach on the Torbay Steam Railway would enable a more accurate representation to be made in this more spacious vehicle.
Some fairground scenes could again be brought up to date with current rides, or equally steam fairs around the country do operate merry-go rounds with the horses to make a truer representation of the film.
The scene when Bruno puts his arm down the drain to pick up Guy’s lighter was not convincing. No way would he manage to squeeze through the bars to get his hand down that far. I think that this scene could be reconstructed with some brickwork to reflect the drain; some leaves and a lighter would be easy to acquire.
Another idea I have is to recreate the tennis match scene where the crowd heads are following the ball but Bruno stands out from the crowd as his eyes are permanently fixed upon Guy. To recapture this shot would require to many people but with the right image and copyright approval to use the shot could enable use of manipulation in photo-shop to impose Bruno’s image into the scene.
No comments:
Post a Comment