Seems like he can't ever escape trouble...
What did we expect? It is a thriller. Expect trouble, and more trouble.
The trailer captivates us from the first set of words "The Master of suspense weaves his greatest tale," it prepares us for the intensity of the tale of a thriller. The word "suspense" already creates that thrilling tense atmosphere. The feeling you get just before the roller coaster starts, you're in the seat just like you would be seated in the cinema audience; that same curious feeling erupts of not knowing what to expect.
The music is intriguing, luring you in while its violin and harsh piano plays in the background, slowly preparing you for what you might have in store. At the end its fast paced, increasing the cruel tension it has already created.
"Its a deadly game of tag," its a life risking game he has to play, "against his own will."
Roger is run over by a fast pacing truck? When, how, what and why are the questions buzzing through your head. That my friend, is the power of the thriller.
So what is this thriller about you ask?
An supposedly "innocent" NY advertising executive is thought to be a government agent, wrongly assume by a group of foreign spies. He is chased and monitored ever so closely as he tries to survive this deathly game.
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Writer: Ernest Lehman
Stars: Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason.
In what ways is this an archetypal thriller?
Fast pace, frequent action are characteristics that are dominant in thrillers.
This is illustrated in the Mount Rushmore Chase scene; the music and the characters are demonstrating these characteristics.
The heroes must hinder the plans of more powerful and equipped villains. Roger must find out what the enemies plans are up to, so he tries to investigate what is going on whenever he can or else if he was fully unaware, his chances of survival would have been increasingly limited. For example, Roger finding out the hotel suite where "he" was suppose to be and finding a note in a suit pocket. Therefore, he has to try to outsmart the villains whenever he can, even though it might not always work.
Suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are the devices used extensively throughout.
The fast violin stimulates the suspense as Roger comes out the car an enters the auction, alone. The next thing we see, is a hand which isn't Roger's stroking the neck of the Red Herring. This suggests there is a suspect of danger; she is in danger because she is in the company of the enemy. Roger approaching the enemy, increases the suspense that was created at the beginning of the scene. Also, it becomes difficult for the audience to fully know which side the woman is on as she has very little to say and attempts to sit in composure. This is the most obvious cliffhanger; it leaves the audience questioning the trustworthiness of the woman.
"I didn't realize you're an art collector. I thought you just collected corpses." Roger knows what the villians are up to.
The Crop Duster Scene is an iconic action sequence
Roger is stranded in the middle of nowhere. This emphasizes how he isolated; that his journey to survival has to do all by himself. The woman he thought was by himself deserted him; for now he is alone. A crop dusting plane comes from the sky aiming directly at the hero of the story. It seems as if he can't escape danger as the plane continues to try to aim at him, and he attempts to run away but the plane continues to pursue him. Time is limited for Roger. He also tries to hide, but the plane still spots him; he cannot hide from danger. This scene highlights the limitation of time, and the increase in danger he is in.
North by North West contains obstacles caused by the villains in which the hero needs to overcome which is typical in a thriller. Roger comes across various troubles in order to understand what is going on. It is a particularly confusing situation for him, therefore clues that he came across helped him come closer to the enemies and their wicked plans.
The thriller contains a MacGuffin, sometimes referred to as McGuffin or Maguffin, which is the striking plot which captivates the viewers attention. The main characters in the story are willing to sacrifice or even do anything in order to do anything to obtain it, no matter what the actual MacGuffin really is.
The nature of the MacGuffin can be undefined, indefinite and unclear which leaves it open to interpretation. For example it could be potential threat, money, survival or something which is completely unexplained.
They are common in films all over Hollywood, particularly in thrillers. In most cases, not all; the MacGuffin is the centre of focus in the first act. However it declines its own importance as it struggles as well as the characters play out.
On the other hand, there is a possibility that it may appear at the climax, but unfortunately its not always the case because there is also a possibility that it gets forgotten by the end of the story. Hitchcock defined a MacGuffin as the object around which the plot revolve, but he declared that, "the audience don't care."
As the audience, do you care?
I previously mentioned in a prior post, that Hitchcock famously said thrillers allow the audience,
"to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like."
He succeeded in this film as every time Roger is danger, we fear with him as if we are there by his side.
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