Alfred Hitchcock’s A Shadow of a Doubt (1943, Universal) combines the obvious visual doubling of Young Charlie (Charlotte) and Uncle Charlie and the aligning of characters in the film with both audio and visuals in order to create a seamlessness with their personalities, stories, and the medium while also giving the viewers opportunities to view the film from the character’s perspectives. These techniques are the ultimate form of “drawing an audience in”, using the film’s connection to the characters and the audience’s connections to these characters as an interconnected event on the screen.
The first example of this alignment happens in the very beginning of Shadow of a Doubt, when we are first introduced to Uncle Charlie. The three shots of Uncle Charlie’s (UC from now on) ties this scene to those used by James Whale’s Frankenstein (Universal 1931). These three shots in many ways shows the recognition of the movie’s roots and ties to the horror film genre. The beginning connections of UC and Young Charlie are forming along with these elements of self-recognition. After the scene between UC and the housekeeper, the same three-shot of the window is used for approaching Young Charlie’s room, finding this Charlie stretched out in the same position UC was just a scene beforehand. This physical layout is only the beginning of the manipulated connection between UC and Young Charlie, including the obvious connection via namesake and the visual layout of the scenes. Later on, young Charlie mentions being so connected to her uncle, it is almost as though she can hear him via telecommunication, evidenced by young Charlie and UC contacting one another at the same time for UC’s visit. We are supposed to understand there is something connecting both of these characters beyond genetics--something within the realm of metaphysics making both of them dangerous peers to each other.
There are smaller moments aligning the screen’s characters to the screen: in the very first scene, the two detectives march to follow UC when he leaves the apartment, their steps are to the same beat as the big brass soundtrack. These detectives are part of the story, separate from us, the onlookers, an important relationship this movie plays with a great deal. In this space, we are reminded we are watching a film and what we are watching is not real. An important thing to consider is the placement of this kind of “reminder”. UC leaves his apartment at the very beginning of the film, so we are already in a mental space we are watching a movie. Thinking about this reminder and going to the scene where UC makes his speech about the “animals” or older women he detests so much. This scene transforms into something very personal, where UC looks directly at the us, the audience, as well as young Charlie. The impact of his words hit me like a train (no pun intended), and experiencing a sensation of both watching a movie as well as being part of it.
This break of the fourth wall is not the only time the audience’s perspective is aligned with the characters. As young Charlie maneuvers through the crowd as she tries to get away from UC, the camera’s position stays over her shoulder, as though we are UC following her. The perspective switches to moments when when young Charlie looks up the stairs at her uncle, the position of the camera following her line of sight and perspective. We are both young Charlie and Uncle Charlie, and they are looking and possibly attempting to understand one another.
This movie establishes a cat’s cradle of relationships: the viewers’ relationships to the screen and the screen’s characters, incredibly present though bringing tension, the parallels between young Charlie and Uncle Charlie, and the relationships the characters have to the film medium. I feel like this makes it easier to manipulate the emotions of the characters and the audience, establishing a precarious balance of perspective built on top of relationships.
Sophia,
ReplyDeleteYour notes about the connectedness between Uncle Charlie and Young Charlie, as well as the audience's connection to the two of them as the invisible eye, are spot on. The connection between the two Charlies is an extremely interesting one, especially considering the differences between their personalities and intentions. However, they have as many similarities as differences upon examination, as they're both heavily concerned with family, both very intelligent, and both are highly observant. It's interesting to see through the eyes of the camera what each character sees and, in turn, how they react or don't react. The moments where the audience is behind the eyes of both Uncle Charlie and Young Charlie are indeed all chilling in their own way. Taking Young Charlie's perspective during Uncle Charlie's dinner monologue is frightening in that we're in the gaze of an intense serial killer, while looking through the perspective of Uncle Charlie as he pursues Young Charlie is scary in that we, in a way, become this killer as he attempts to hide his secret. The manipulation of the audience with various camera techniques is part of what makes the film so effective, and I think your observations help illustrate that. Nice post!
I had realized the relationship between Uncle Charlie and Young Charlie, but I hadn't fully recognized the audience's part in that connection and how at times we are both of them. I wonder what this means when you apply it to the end of the film and when considering whether we believe UC to be the killer. The detectives say he isn't, but we are more intimately involved with UC than they are. I'm not totally sure, but great post!
ReplyDeleteSophia—
ReplyDeleteI like your discussion on the balance of perspective and how it allows the audience into the film. The change in point of view is dizzying at times. It’s also something that changes within each individual character. With young Charlie and her telepathic potentialities, she wonders at a kind of far-off source for similarity, whereas Uncle Charlie seems disturbed by their likeness and by her intuition since he only likes, he says, “people who face facts.” And with all the comments from family on how alike they’ve always been, it would be interesting to see the relationship between the two Charlies in earlier years (and whether they were less cosmically aware of it then). To that point, re: their metaphysical connections, your comment on Uncle Charlie and young Charlie being “dangerous peers to each other” is especially heavy. We can assume there’s never been a threat between them before, and now the real confrontation seems to take place in the mind, in secret, as something unsafe.
And that scene in the stairwell is a great example of what you’re talking about—that the two are still trying to get in each other’s head, even after certain facts have been revealed (and we’re even there with them, trying to stay a step ahead). Those few shots were especially effective in framing their relationship: her standing at the base/the threshold, he at the top in apparent victory, forgetting himself, and each character is only connected to the other by a direct path in a narrow space (like a channel into the mind). They are usually hidden and alone on the back staircase in these types of scenes, and here they are right in the middle of the home with all sorts of people in it. Even so, we don’t feel that activity when they are staring each other down—it’s completely intimate. Though, as you say, we’ve been invited into it, too.
This idea of drawing in an audience based on sound and action matches and inward moving shot cuts is interesting not only in this film but would be a helpful lens for me with future films. I honestly dont pay enough attention to sounds and the impact it has on me when viewing a film but this makes me want to rewatch everything with a whole new lens. The three shot idea you pose is interesting and I have definitely seen it in a few of the fils we have watched throughout this course. I am interested in seeing whether this style of editing follows through the rest of our films.
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