MARNIE

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Marnie'

Alfred Hitchcock's 'Marnie'

"There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it". Alfred Hitchcock said these words, and directed his movies in this way. Whenever people hear about Alfred Hitchcock, they would always listen to people say what a genius he was. That his style of filmmaking was different from anyone else, one really had no clue what they were talking about. People used to watch his half hour T.V. shows on Nick at Nite when they were kid, and they don't even remember them so well. When they watched Vertigo in class they got my first real taste of this director's work.

It was a really good movie, defiantly holding my interest. But class was just starting, and other then it just being a good story, an individual did not appreciate what made him such an innovative director. They have learned his movies are not about blood and gore, but are still able to frighten us using suspense. He made films in a way so the audience can let their minds run away with what was going on.

In all of the movies he has directed there are only four prolonged murder scenes (The art of murder). In all the other murders in his films, they are off-screen, or suggested with something such as a flash of a gun (The art of murder). Hitchcock said "Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms". (Leon 2009:41)

It is a story about a woman who changes identities so she can rob different buildings. She is hired by a man who falls in love with her, and blackmails her into marring him. In the end he helps her sort out issues from her past. Hitchcock says this is a story of the good girl attracted to the bad guy, but reversed.

Marnie has a phobia of the color red, in Rear Window, and The Birds it is a recurring color. In Marnie it is in not such a subtle way. The color red is not there to suggest tension and fear, it creates it. Marnie is scared of the color red because of a murder she committed and repressed when she was young. The color yellow, is a warning color. People see yellow throughout the movie, letting us know something is not right. The yellow being seen the most is that of Marnie's hair. This is a constant warning sign and a person knows it all has to do with her. (Smith 2008:16)

Marnie although blond, is not your typical Hitchcock Blond. One way it can be seen is the fact that she wears her hair down in part of the movie.

This is not typical of a female lead in a Hitchcock film. The blonds in the previous film had always worn their hair up. Hitchcock saw women who wore their hair down as "vulgar" and "improper" (Truth about ...