The IMDB Tops: 5 Thoughts on... Rebecca

For my second post in the series, I share my thoughts on a so-called classic that didn't make it easy for me to like it. Only 5 thoughts instead of the usual 10, therefore. 

USA, 1940

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Written by Robert E. Sherwood, Joan Harrison

★ Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders

    

Current IMDB rank - rating - votes

 1. It's so hard to find a genre for this film. I like it when films can't be genre-rized genuinely, but this is something else; I don't really know what it was truly about. There was some love and some drama... mystery... sometimes a dash of horror... but nothing really made a huge impression, which is a problem in my opinion. You don't know what the message or the essence of all this is supposed to be. But maybe one of you has the answer?

2. Though Joan Fontaine was a beauty, most of the time I found her acting to be quite strange and stiff. Might be her character is supposed to be shy, but to me it seemed very much over-the-top. The same can be said about Laurence Olivier, though the script is part of what went wrong here - his character, Maxim, never explains himself. Actually, it doesn't seem like the couple talks about profound things at all, except maybe grandchildren. They even live in separate bedrooms - was that really normal back then? And as for that one kiss in front of the fire-place - you can't fool me, I've seen Casablanca. I know that Hollywood films didn't have to be that prude and un-realistic in the 40s. Come on, who on earth would kiss like that and simultaneously turn their heads towards the fire place, dreaming. It was just too much.

3. My favourite character of the whole film was Mrs. Danvers, played by Judith Anderson. I think she delivered the best performance of the whole film, her character was truly scaring and though she was over-the-top as well, she didn't pretend to be "normal". My favourite scene therefore also happens to be with her - the one where Mrs. Danvers shows the new Mrs. De Winter Rebecca's old room. I think with a few more horror or thriller elements, the film might've worked better.

4. There was some great suspense in some of the scenes, especially when Mrs. De Winter is starting to find out (or thinks she does) about Rebecca and everything just seems so mysterious and strange. The mansion of Manderlay is the perfect scene for all of this, and I love films that take place in a restricted but grand environment, like a mansion.

5. It is surprising that Rebecca happens to be one of Hitchcock's most famous works, for in my opinion it wasn't much more than average. I've just seen Shadow of a Doubt, which isn't included in the IMDB Top 250 (it's famous too though), and I think this is a little unfair.
While Rebecca did have its moments, most of which I've mentioned, I failed to see its greatness.

The IMDB Tops: 10 thoughts on... The Shawshank Redemption

Dir. Frank Darabont | USA

★ Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bon Gunton

    

Current IMDB rank - rating - votes

1. Who would have thought that the currently most popular film would be such a softie? I'm not a frequent cineweeper, but the final sequence touched something very deep down - as corny as that sounds.

It was nothing I had expected, not even a few seconds before the tears started falling. It was like somebody had suddenly turned on some magnificent music that you hadn't heard before, but that still sounded familiar (sounds corny again).

2. Speaking of familiar, The Shawshank Redemption is a very good film, but there was something familiar, well-known about each and every scene. It was like all the good "mainstream" films put together, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering its cinematic position. 

Watching this film, I feel, has helped me understand cinema and cinematic taste more, and how hard it is to hit the right notes for the audience in fusion with your own artistic standards... and what an example of that can look like.