A stunning and underrated film by the great Hitchcock about the winding paths of the subconscious.
In the 40s, a new character appears in Hollywood cinema – a woman scientist. Smart and cold-blooded like a man. Sensitive and loving like a woman. Interesting look. Against the backdrop of on-screen glamorous girls, she looks like a blue stocking. But her natural beauty Ingrid Bergman can not be missed, despite the lack of cosmetics and disheveled hair.
Nature is straightforward and open, without a shadow of coquetry. Being among the mentally ill people, she is extremely healthy and calm. Scientific interest and a loving soul do not fight in her, but complement each other when a beautiful and mysterious man appears in her life. She is irresistibly drawn to this unbalanced man. For a calm, strong woman, this is a psychologically compatible type. Although it can be dangerous, like a cornered animal in a moment of fear. A fine line between madness and normality. Maybe that’s why he’s so interested.
Many parallel lines with Marnie, Hitchcock's lyrical work, shot 20 years later. Marnie was frightened by the color red, the color of blood. Thunderstorms and lightning. Jonah is frightened by the color white, the color of snow. And dark stripes on a white background. Any small thing can send a signal of danger to the painful subconscious. Both have sudden outbursts of fear. Both tend to impersonate the other. Both suffer from amnesia, because in order not to go crazy, you need to forget about the horrors.
There are some brilliant finds in the film. I was especially impressed by the moment when the kiss of the heroes opened the door one by one, like a passage to a new world. It’s like a new life experience.
A separate work of art is a surreal dream of the enchanted John, in the style of which the hand of the inimitable Salvador Dali is immediately guessed.
While the Soviet army raised the Victory Banner on the roof of the Reichstag building in Berlin, Alfred Hitchcock was preparing to release his psychological detective, so that the United States would leave at least some trace after the end of World War II. The beginning of the viewing was marked by a long overture. For what? Don't know. It is possible that before watching all the audience gathered or just listen to classical music, because they will not be up to relaxation. Names flash on the credits, and I was intrigued by the artist: Salvador Dali. Oh, how!
The location of the picture is a psychiatric hospital (not Arkham). The main character introduces the viewer to the course of things, explaining on the example of patients what her methods are, what systemic psychoanalysis means. The plot thread begins with one important but expected event – a change of leadership, which affects employees. The emotions of the staff are beautifully presented, because the new leader is not anyone, but a famous scientist whose work was studied by both teachers and students.
The picture does not delay dubious episodes, sometimes it seems that the plot, on the contrary, is in a hurry. Here we have a new face, friendly greetings, as a love line is born. It was predictable, but still nice. It is pleasant to watch the novel, seemingly beautiful melodrama, the disclosure of a girl, but elements of Hitchcock’s style gradually introduce a mystery into this idyll. Is something going on here? Is there something wrong with this scientist?
"Abode of the Damned." Brad Anderson! The Island of the Damned by Martin Scorsese! Yes, the directors were definitely inspired by Hitchcock. Suspicions justify themselves, excellent suspense, assumptions and deduction. It is noteworthy how the heroine passes from the role of a psychologist to the role of a detective, when the mind and experience of the hospital surpass the investigators, when only the disclosure of a person can help to reach the truth.
Stockholm syndrome? Yes, it prevails over the leading specialists of psychoanalysis, reveals itself fully and at the same time serves as an example for many artists in the future. Tension and suspicion are replaced by flight, secrecy and attempts to get to the truth.
Along with the external experience that you experience as a screen duet, internal memories are revealed. Who is this main character? How did he get to this place? A mystery covered in darkness. Thanks to the excellent camera work and the systematic increase in the object, the entire journey of the heroes is filled with Easter eggs, elements, focusing on which, you can slowly restore pictures from the past. What could be worse when you're not who you say you are? Only amnesia after reincarnation into another person. That’s the main trump card, that’s what keeps the whole film in suspense, that’s why Alfred Hitchcock is called a genius.
Fascinating, exciting and intriguing. But, do not forget that in the yard of the 40th, only the sound design is gradually introduced into the cinema (perhaps this is the main reason for the initial overture - a demonstration of technology), why sometimes the production looks crooked, but this is its beauty. That's what you might call "for ages." The episode with the ski descent, which was filmed with the setting of the background, already very much spoiled the perception. If in “Psycho” the heroine drives a car, and the background of the production is there, it is not yet very striking, since the main object has minimal actions (turn the steering wheel, look directly or in the mirror), then in “Bewitched” descent from the mountain on skis. You would at least have the body somehow grouped, or moved with your hand under the swing of ski poles, but no, the characters just hover until a movement at an angle of 45 degrees is formed in the background.
Okay, it's episodic, because it's coming to a climax, and it's definitely going to surprise you. Just revealed an important feature, plunged into the halls of the mind and placed all the dots on the "E", as another sudden turn occurs. The tension creates the camera approach, the chilling soundtrack and the wary, more frightened faces of the main characters. An unexpected ending that leaves a great impression.
The starring actress is Ingrid Bergman. I just saw her in The Cactus Flower. Coincidence? I don't think. In the end, despite the old shooting techniques, the film is great. Once again proving that Hitchcock is the “father” of psychological tension on the screen.
Guilt, she is not in these stars. It's inside of us (c)
The picture of 1945 of the great Alfred Hitchcock tells the story of a man posing as the famous Dr. Edwards, who accepted the proposal of the outgoing chief physician of a medical institution, profiling the direction of psychoanalysis that was gaining popularity in the forties of the last century.
Young Constance works in this psychiatric hospital, being the only representative of the fair sex among doctors. The girl at first sight not only understands that the stranger takes himself for another, watching his strange fear of straightforward things, but also falls in love with the pseudo-doctor, the benefit he is not bad himself.
When the secret becomes clear, the heroine decides at all costs to help the male ideal in the person of the false doctor to remember who he really is, along the way proving his innocence in the premature death of the real Dr. Edwards, whom, as it turns out later, he was familiar with earlier.
The great work of the actors takes this film to a high level. Gregory Peck acts as a love magnet for the fair sex, making the audience incessantly admire the stately and ideal image of the great actor. Ingred Bergman acts as an attractive male eye, striking with his femininity, courageous determination and firm-mindedness in one bottle. Mikhail Chekhov (creator of the famous Chekhov system, long opposed to the more popular Stanislavsky system) is responsible for the experience and slightly comedic component in this film, each time appearing in the frame pleases the eye with a professional word and a thick mustache.
Enchanted became one of the first paintings telling about the problems of psychoanalysis of the human mind. Everything that happens in the depths of a person’s consciousness directly results in his external and internal states, which can harm not only the individual himself, but also those around him. Not for nothing at the beginning of the tape as an epigraph is the famous phrase of the greatest poet William Shakespeare: "Guilt, it is not in these stars." It is within us.
These words make it clear the true problem of many interpersonal conflicts born in the depths of consciousness of a person.
"Bewitched" allows you to visually imagine the power of indoctrination into the human mind of acute false truth, changing a person beyond recognition.
"Galop for Hitchcock." Race three, lap six: "Remember everything or the dangerous method of Hitchcock"
In 1944, Sir Alfred, driven by a passionate desire to produce “the first sensible film about psychoanalysis,” took up work on one of his most controversial films, “Spellbound,” which in Russian is not limited to the adjective “bewitched,” but can also be deciphered as “enchanted” or “under the spell.” Already at the level of the title, it is clear that, acting on the example of psychoanalysis, the discourse of the film includes the “reasonable” component only as one of the components.
Realizing the complexity of the development of such a slippery and ambiguous theme, Hitchcock turned for help to an emigrant from Russia, top-level Hollywood screenwriter Ben Hekt, who took up the adaptation of the famous bestseller Francis Biding’s “House of Dr. Edwards”. Providing himself with a solid ideological basis, Sir Alfred began to worry about the second most important component of the picture - visualization. To work, after long delays, invited the artist, literally "bewitched" by psychoanalysis - Salvador Dali. At first, his fantasies were completely unrealizable (Ingrid Bergman was supposed to cover from head to toe with live ants and place in a cocoon resembling a sarcophagus). This was not exactly what the artist expected. Hitchcock in his paintings before constantly mixed the material and fantasy world, but never crossed the boundaries of reality, which made everything look symbolic, but natural (for example, the aspect of illusion was introduced at the expense of competent entourage - theater, circus, gallery). But this time he decided to go further and "present hallucinations with special visual sharpness and clarity - brighter than real life episodes." Subsequently, this technique will be refined to perfection in the films Vertigo, Bad Glory and Psycho, where reality itself will seem an unbearable nightmare.
The plot of the film is quite interesting and diverse. A young and beautiful girl-doctor Constance works day and night in a clinic for the mentally ill, tirelessly curing unfortunate patients from the attacks of phobias, schizophrenia and obsessive states. Intelligent, “charming” and noble Constance, of course, causes close attention to her person from male colleagues. However, all attempts at intimate rapprochement are broken against a reflective wall of polite indifference (“Huge you is like fondling a book”). But when it seems that the sacred altar of science has irrevocably taken another innocent sacrifice, the fate of the beauty changes dramatically. Dr. Anthony Edwards arrives at the hospital, a world-renowned doctor whose scientific works the girl knows by heart. However, instead of a wise old man, whose image painted her imagination, Constance sees a tall, tightly built, “bewitching” man in the prime of his years. She begins to feel something within herself that transcends all categories of reason. Confessing her feelings, the heroine almost faints from happiness, hearing that they are mutual. But the joy doesn't last long. Dr. Edwards soon develops symptoms of mental illness. It turns out that he is not at all who he claims to be. Constance's idyllic world is crumbling before our eyes. For the first time in her life, trusting the all-powerful female intuition, the heroine decides to help her beloved in the way that she knows best. With the help of psychoanalysis, the girl penetrates into the secrets of his personality. But the results are disappointing, he remembers only his name - John Ballantyne. Constance understands that the case is too complex to understand it alone and turns to her mentor, Professor Bryulov, for help. At night, Ballantyne, who has fallen into a somnabulic trance, hangs menacingly over the professor with a razor in his hand. He drinks it with sleeping pills, and in the morning he quickly starts to work in order to avoid new occurrences.
The film is imbued with Hitchcock’s typical moral motif – believe nothing but your heart. If girls (and sometimes men, as in the films “The Lady Disappears” or “Murder!”), rejecting the incomprehensible impulses of sensuality, obey the arguments of reason, public prejudices or authoritative opinion, the timing of most of the director’s tapes would be limited to fifteen minutes. In the work of the maestro (at least at this stage), it is love and trust that are the source of the highest truth and justice, while the system of justice, the rationality of the most sophisticated deductive methods, and even the illusory picture of “reality” are ruthlessly criticized. This romanticism of Hitchcock found a second wind after the transition of the maestro under the jurisdiction of Selznick and appeared even stronger, renewed and decisive.
However, sometimes Seznik’s desire to saturate the film with melodramatism goes beyond acceptable limits. For example, in this case, every seven to ten minutes of action is necessarily interrupted by the typical middle plan of tender embraces of the characters, a sample of which can be seen on the famous poster of Gone with the Wind, the producer’s most successful film. Today it looks almost caricatured, although during the harsh establishments of the “Hays code” viewers probably cried with delight.
Another important drawback of the picture is the shocking staticity of the first fifty (!) minutes of timekeeping and the general oversaturation with dialogue. But these circumstances are easily explained. Dialogues are introduced to draw more deeply into the characters’ characters and expand the psychological space, which is consistent with the film’s purpose. And everything about reality is deliberately impoverished and discolored by Hitchcock to establish a contrast between the gray, rational routine and the bright, explosive world of fantasies, dreams, delusions and destructive actions like murder. It should be noted that all scenes relating to the world of the irrational are made absolutely congenially. Some of them strongly influenced the whole direction of cinema, in particular “Jallo”. For example, a flashback about the death of Ballantine’s brother (note that the viewer, in this case, acts as a minor killer) with lightning shattering the horizon of the narrative will be exactly repeated in Mario Bava’s film “Kill, child, kill!”, with the only difference that Bava’s spears are already sewn through the body. Or the last scene, where the audience finds themselves in the shoes of (another) killer and even directs a revolver at the heroine slowly leaving the room. Here, Hitchcock makes us unwittingly worry not so much about the heroine as about the potential killer, causing the audience “shameful pleasure” to pull the trigger before the victim had time to leave. As a retribution to this latent cruelty, the maestro resorts to a brilliant reception and really fulfills the desire of a bloodthirsty audience. But only the yawning emptiness of the cold muzzle is suddenly directed at ourselves.
In general, Enchanted can be designated as a discrete masterpiece of the maestro, in which, in the midst of the gloomy veil of the plot, individual shocking episodes flash like stars, which will nourish with their life-giving light the imagination of more than one subsequent generation of viewers and directors.
Spellbound (") is one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best films. The master of suspense has always taken unusual themes for his films and "Bewitched" was no exception. In the center of the plot is a man who lost his memory and a girl who fell in love with him. She offers to help him understand his past by interpreting dreams. Here is such a plot of a really interesting and complex plot, in which there is a place for murder, and child trauma, and real love.
In addition, the film applied a very interesting approach to camera work - so, at the very end, the camera is transferred to the first-person view of the main villain - for the first time in the history of world cinema. Also, it is impossible not to mention the dream of the main character - he is completely staged by the generally recognized king of surrealism, Salvador Dali. It is amazing, but it is as impressive today as it was in 1945.
Enchanted is one of the best noir films in history. Thanks to the unusual plot, outstanding acting and constant tension, which saturated the whole film, this picture looks great even now. Another proof that this classic is not outdated.
In Hollywood at the time, psychoanalysis films were never made. Of course, in the late 30s, in one of the musicals of Fred Astaire, an attempt was made to joke about this topic, but it was not very successful.
In 1945, the thriller Alfred Hitchcock “Bewitched” was released, which already drew attention to this topic more interestingly, albeit within the framework of a detective thriller. The plot of the film tells about the Institute of Psychiatry, where the new director Edwards, a famous scientist, comes.
Constance Pietersen, one of the researchers at the institute, has studied his entire book and is excited to see him in person. Soon, after meeting, a relationship develops between them, but soon the professor begins to behave strangely, and it becomes clear that he is not who he claims to be.
A rather innovative approach to the detective story for those years makes the film quite interesting. The cast was selected successfully. Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck form a very harmonious duo, talentedly acting out both the detective component and the touching lyrical part of the film. The actors work well together.
Mikhail Chekhov shines in this film as Constance's college teacher. The Oscar nomination is absolutely deserved.
- Any husband Constance will be my friend!
Of the secondary performers, I can mention Leo Carroll as the main villain and Ronda Fleming as a patient who hates men.
- He invited me to dance and started whispering. Sing in my ear. I grabbed his mustache. I even pulled one off!
In general, Hitchcock turned out to be a very interesting and intense thriller mixed with Freudian themes and moments from psychoanalysis. But it's all very well mixed. The movie is very interesting. Lovers of the genre should like it!
Despite the fact that by the early 40s, “classical” or “orthodox” Freudianism was criticized, and even by Freud’s students themselves, such a conservative and Victorian director as Alfred Hitchcock released his new, third film dedicated to the theories of the great Austrian – “Bewitched”. In it, Hitchcock conceived not just to use Freudian ideas, but to reveal the method of psychoanalysis itself, describing it in detail in a popular form.
The film begins with a psychological hospital, where the new head doctor Dr. Edwards (Gregory Peck) arrives. Doctor and psychologist Constance Petersen (Ingrid Bergman) immediately falls in love with him, and seems to be mutual. But very soon she notices some strangeness in the behavior of Dr. Edwards. Her suspicions grow stronger every day, and as a result, one day she does not hold back and asks her lover, who is actually not a doctor, but a mentally ill. The next day, he escapes, just before the police arrive, who explain that the real Dr. Edwards has been killed, with the killer now hiding under his name. Constance does not believe this and decides to investigate.
Next, we will meet with the interpretation of dreams, the scene of which will be staged by Salvador Dali himself in his surreal manner, and with immersion in childhood memories. The main character, together with her teacher, played by the brilliant actor Mikhail Chekhov, the nephew of Anton Pavlovich, immerse the hero Gregory Peck, and ourselves the audience in the space of Freudian theories. Unbeknownst to us, we find ourselves in the role of patients, attentively listening and broadcasting the speeches of the main characters on their lives, their dreams and memories. Soon, however, we will be acting as doctors, trying to pass on some knowledge to the stupid police. Thus, Hitchcock achieves the embodiment of his goal: to popularly tell about Freudianism, gradually making a connoisseur of the theory of psychoanalysis from a casual viewer.
Technically, the film is made with virtuoso skill. There are many scenes in "Bewitched" that would be appropriate in a silent movie, for example, a scene of childhood memories. Hitchcock skillfully combines old techniques with a new format, eventually giving viewers a real hit. The editing of the film can be compared to the editing of Sergei Eisenstein, who just knocks down his “film fist”. It is sharp, intense, creates the rhythm and atmosphere of the film. Thus, Hitchcock, consistently expounding the theory of psychoanalysis, does not let the viewer get bored, but on the contrary causes him even more interest.
In the original language of the film is called “Spellbound”, which can be translated as “Bewitched”, and as “Bewitched”, and as “Bewitched”. The latter translation seems to be the most preferable, because not only is the hero in a hypnotic state, but the heroine herself seems to be some enchanted woman obsessed with neurotic love for the hero Gregory Peck. Hitchcock plays with the viewer, creating a strange world that obeys Freud’s theories, but he does everything so skillfully and virtuoso that unnoticed to himself you accept the rules of the game and enter the space of the film and also as a fascination.
The film is very unusual, if only because it is not “just” Hitchcock detective, but also a psychological thriller. A brilliant director, a master of suspense and a lover of details and hidden meanings, he presents us with a psychological problem. A young man suffering from memory loss and suffering from many complexes.
The film is shot in an interesting manner - the scientific grows into the surreal, and the surreal is explained by science. This is one of the first films (let me remind you, 1945) about psychoanalysis - a direction in psychology, which was initiated by Sigmund Freud and which became widespread just in the second half of the XX century. The whole picture is permeated with Freudian theme, which is inferior to both the plot and the detective intrigue. At the forefront, the director puts internal problems, problems of consciousness, the disclosure of which comes to the fore.
Freud’s main hypotheses are well known. Man is constantly in a struggle with himself, because his subconscious - the repository of secret desires and fears - is working in opposition to common sense (consciousness that is). In this regard, there is a constant suppression of ulterior motives and causes of behavior, which leads to various kinds of psychological diseases (neurosis, and in this case, amnesia and excessive unconscious aggressiveness of the hero). The only way to heal is to release the secret thoughts from the hoard of consciousness and recognize their source. This is what young doctor Constance Pietersen does. Interestingly, first she falls in love with a sick man, and then shows a professional interest in him. That is, the version that she used it as another practice, disappears.
Dr. Alexander Bryulov (in his life – a relative of the great Russian writer) is strikingly reminiscent of Dr. Freud. The same beard, the same pipe, and their conversation about Freudianism (the hero claims that dreams are empty stupidity; a reference to Freud's book "The Interpretation of Dreams"). An amazingly charismatic and kind friend-psychoanalyst provides support to two heroes who are in trouble. Not an allegory for a trained doctor!
John's dream episode deserves special attention. Salvador Dali was very popular at that time (it cannot be said that the popularity of this has decreased even a little in our days), besides he was very attracted to cinema. An amazing director and an equally amazing artist met on the set of the film “Bewitched” and presented something extraordinary to our eyes. Freudian mechanisms of interpretation of dreams - it is with the help of them that the dream of the protagonist is explained by all three doctors (later - Dr. Murchison). He gives off anxiety, anxiety and quite gloomy. Nothing is shown in it directly, naturally. Every thing or character in a dream has only one sign of what really triggered the emotion. So, the girl who kisses everyone is Constance, who pleases the hero with unlimited care (plus, of course, the physical attraction of the hero), eyes are guardians of order, etc.
The rationalization of a dream that is seemingly absurd and meaningless by quite logical arguments is the task of psychoanalysis, described in detail by Sigmund Freud. It is only necessary to dig into the childhood of the patient, as well as learn about the latest events that shocked him, and the subconscious gives us a ready-made, carefully hidden answer. The extraordinary and inadequate are explained by exact science.
It is noteworthy that even the owner of the playing house is shown without a face - after all, so often in a dream we do not see a person's face, we remember him blurry, but we know exactly what he was, and sometimes even who he was. Salvador Dali painted the scenery specifically for the Hitchcock painting. This is one of the most incredibly successful actions of the director. His films always have a suspense atmosphere, so here we still get a portion of surrealism, paintings with vague and distorted forms, generated by a sick fantasy. Don’t you want to understand what the artist wanted to say in this picture, what these hyperbalized forms and crazy plots mean? This time we get an answer.
Two brilliant people of art, a reflection of the scientific paradigm of the XX century, a good detective, suspense - definitely, it is worth seeing.
8 out of 10