Lesson 1
INTRODUCTION
I’m going to introduce to you North by Northwest, a film by Hitchcock.
Can you tell me something about Hitchcock? What can you say about him? What about his work? What do the cinema critics and people in general say about him? He is the master but the master of what?
He is the master of the suspense.
Do you know any of the most famous films he directed?
Rear window (1954Grace Kelly / James Stewart) Vertigo (sueurs froides in1958 starring Kim Novak/ James Stewart), North by Northwest (1959 Eva Marie Saint / Cary Grant) Psycho (1960sixti ) Janet Leigh/ Antony Perkins , The Birds( 1963Tippi Hedren / Rod Taylor).
He directed very beautiful blond actresses such as…?
Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Janet Leigh, Eva Marie Saint.
And what about the actors he directed? Who were they?
James Stewart, Cary Grant, Antony Perkins, Rod Taylor
We are in the American period of Hitchcock. You have to know that he began first in England then he continued his career in the USA. So we are in 1959 and which cinematic movement took place between 1958 and 1962 in France? We saw that last time…
In France it’s the New Wave of cinema. And we have to reremember the influence of Hitchcock on the filmmakers of the New Wave such as Godard or Jean Pierre Melville. .. So you understand now why I want you should study a film by Hitchcock.
We are going to see the generic, the very beginning of the film, and we are going to analyse it. The generic was created by Saoul Bass . Saul Bass is a famous American designer for his work in the film. He has collaborated with the greatest filmmakers, for the creation of generics and the design of posters. He is the man who made several generics films of Hitchcock as Herrmann is the man who created the music for several Hitchcock’s films.
[Vocabulary : [diagonal line (ligne diagonale)- spectateurs : viewers, audience – the film di’(y)rector : réalisateur – suspense, tension (intensité dramatique) – to arouse, to create (susciter, entrainer, engendrer, provoquer…) – Skyscrapers (gratte ciel)- downwards (vers le bas) upwards (vers le haut) – elevator (amér), li(e)ft (anglais) (assenseur) – balancing weight (contre poids) – never ending, endless cycle (sans fin) – eventful, lots of things going on / happening (mouvementé)- maze, labyrinth - ]