Hitchock

Hitchcock's first movie in technicolor is an experimental film called Rope, adapted from a play called Rope's End. It is experimental in that most of the film appears to be one shot, and all of the action takes place within one room. Far from being boring or repetitive, it is a riveting thriller, even in this age of (need I say it?) explosions and car chases. The story is of two young friends, fresh out of the university who decide to act on their newfound ideas about an intellectual and moral elite. Unfortunately, acting on these beliefs means murdering their friend whom they believe that they are intellectually superior to. They hide the body in a bookcase and, in a bold move, invite his friends and family to a party in the same room that the body is hidden.

The movie replies heavily on dialogue--there is no music except for some brilliantly placed piano which is played by a main character. The plot thickens when the murderers teacher, played by the timeless Jimmy Stewart, shows up to the party and notices something is afoot. Stewart must soon face the horrible truth that his students have acted on the ideas that he taught them about the intellectual superiority of some over others and the illusion of traditional morality.

It is, perhaps, the clearest attempt at a refutation of Nietzchean ideals that I have seen in a movie, and Hitchcock makes a very decent attempt at an answer to the problem of the superman. Does his argument hold water? Watch the film.