Strangers on a Train

Strangers on a Train reverted back to the black and white filming, which almost seemed appropriate for almost any Hitchcock film. It is in a way a little poetic since Hitchcock is all about the world and people not being entirely black or white, good or bad.

Bruno, the antagonist of the film, is definitely an embodiment of this concept. He is handsome and charming and much more charismatic than Guy was. He could even talk an old woman into letting him wrap his hands around her neck, smiling all the while. Everyone but Anne, Guy, and Barbara seemed to be caught up in Bruno's charm.

Bruno's mother, however, was very different from most of Hitchcock's mother-figures. She was very much the subservient one. She is actually very much afraid of him. This is noticeable by the way she caters to him and cowers around him. I feel like she supported Bruno to Anne more out of fear of what Bruno might do to her should he find out than because he is her son.

Guy, on the other hand, is not as charismatic or dominant, which is displayed when his wife takes advantage of him and his new-found fame. He has a hard time standing up to Bruno even when they first meet and Bruno insults him and invades his privacy.

In the concept of duality, there are a lot of likenesses made in the movie, both with events and with people. For instance, Barbara resembles Marion, which causes some psychological trauma to Bruno. There is a bookend moment when the man who is tailing Guy on his way back to the amusement park bumps his shoe into another's man's foot, just like Guy and Bruno had met. Duality is also portrayed with the tennis match scene. Guy changing his tactics with his opponent shows his frustration with his current situation, but also how is has changed him, and made him almost more prepared to stand up for himself, to be a more aggressive person. The match itself seems to resemble the relationship between Bruno and Guy. At first, the opponent takes control, which is similar to when Bruno first took the life of Marion. Then Guy takes control of the tennis match which is akin to how he resisted Bruno's advances to get Guy to murder his father. Then again the opponent takes control, where Bruno starts to shadow over Guy, threatening to bring down his entire life. In the end, Guy wins over, just as they are hair to hair. This happens too with his dealings with Bruno.

The “It” factor in this movie wasn't as visible as it was in Rope, however, Bruno did display an attitude towards Guy that was much more intimate at times than merely an acquaintance or even friendship standing. Also, the idea of having a dark secret shared between two people tends to have a bit of a romantic air to it. This is sometimes illustrated when both Guy and Bruno are talking and they stand closer than normal because they are acting guilty or do not want anyone to hear what they are saying.

On the subject of crossing paths, there seems to be a lot of instances that make me wonder. For instance, the people who saw Bruno at the amusement park remembered him, even though he didn't make himself entirely obvious. Yet when Guy spoke to the man on the train, they shared a moment that would have normally been remembered, when the man was talking about his lecture and was surpried that Guy could understand it. However, when called in confirm Guy's alibi, he could not remember him. My favorite moment concerning the idea of crossing paths though, is when Bruno stalks Marion into the Tunnel of Love and just as the two boats go out of sight, Bruno's shadow looms over and almost swallow's Marion's.

There were a lot of scenes that I liked the technical aspects of. For instance, the point of view shots that came in occasionally. Or the shot of Bruno standing at the Jefferson Memorial, a man in a black suit in rather stark contrast to the white marble. And the scene where Bruno calls out to Guy from the shadows of an alleyway; the way the voice carried was almost scary all in its own. My favorite part though was when the scene where Bruno strangles Marion was shot through the view of her fallen glasses.