A Lesson From Hitchcock

I'm currently reading a biography of Alfred Hitchcock (the one by Charlotte Chandler). It is great so far, and I would encourage any fan of film to give it a chance.

Not only was Hitchcock a master director, but a caring person. But who cares about that, really? What I've found interesting is his 'ticking time bomb' theory to his movies. This structure revolves around the audience always being in-the-know, on the edge of their seat waiting to see when the shit on screen will hit the fan. One of many examples is in Notorious (one of his best), when Sebastian figures out his key was missing, yet Alicia and Devlin think they may have gotten away just yet. Or better yet, one step before, when Sebastian has not yet found his missing key, but we know he will. And we know he will figure it out. The anticipation is half the fun.

Let me search for a more common example, since I'm sure many readers have not seen Notorious. How about The Departed. The only real, true curve ball is that Costello is an informant. But that's not too shocking. Yet we spend a majority of the movie waiting, dying for the scene where Leo DiCaprio and Matt Damon throw down. There are no tricks, just raw human instinct, leading to a huge climax (wow, major unintended sexual innuendo).

Hitchcock always said he did not like surprises because they made him feel out of control. I agree, and understand, but after the cut I will list some examples where a surprise worked (and as expected, there will be a couple spoilers).

I'm not simply talking about a 'twist ending,' either. No Sixth Sense or The Usual Suspects.

A good example of a great movie with hidden motives is Casino Royale. We don't know Vespyr Lynd is in it for Le Chiffre, we don't know Mathis is in on it as well, and but that is the way of James Bond films, and it works well.

A movie revealing hidden motives will usually use this plot point to propel the third act. If it is revealed too early, it will fall short, and too late, it will seem gimmicky. Keep that in mind. It's all right to hide information from the audience, but waiting until the last breath is hard to pull off.