North
by Northwest
Not rated
Cinema 21 616 NW 21st Ave., 223-4515.
7 and 9:30 pm Friday-Thursday, Dec. 3-9,
with additional screenings 1:15 and 4 pm Saturday and Sunday,
Dec. 4-5.
$6
There is only one flaw in Alfred Hitchock's 1959 classic North
by Northwest, but it plays almost naturally: When a gun
is fired in a Mount Rushmore restaurant, a little boy in the
background covers his ears before the shot is heard.
Oops. But then again, maybe this was intended. Perhaps Hitchcock
was playing with another device that would trick your eyes
into seeing something funnier, deeper or more absurd within
the scene. There is something extra-textural in every Hitchcock
scene. Whether through set design, costume choice or flourish
by an actor, there is always something more which makes
his movies ageless.
North by Northwest is perhaps his most re-watchable
film. It embodies the cliché that "they don't make
them like they used to." This is not only perfect cinema,
but also a jam-packed feast of everything entertaining you
could ever want out of a movie. It contains suspense, sex,
romance--both light and cynical--dark humor, adventure,
espionage, artistic merit, sophistication, intelligence,
perfect acting and a magnificent score. It's straightforward,
absurd and subversive.
This sublimity makes it absolutely imperative that you
see North by Northwest as it was meant to be seen:
on the big screen. I had watched the film on video more
than 10 times before viewing it in a theater, and the difference
was overwhelming. Like watching the restored Vertigo
a few years back, I was drowned and drugged with the sight
and sound of it all. The experience is that thrilling.
The film takes possession of you, and if you don't get goose
bumps at any point, then you're probably not alive.
But people, especially critics, are fickle. Most likely
because the film is so damn entertaining and charming,
it has historically been regarded as lightweight Hitchcock.
Sandwiched between two of Hitchcock's most famous films--Vertigo
in 1958 and Psycho in 1960--North by Northwest
has never been overlooked, but rather, under-scrutinized.
It's a gloriously fun movie, for sure, but there is so much
more going on besides entertainment that it would take volumes
to dissect it all.
Cary Grant stars as Roger Thornhill, a stylish and selfish
advertising executive with two ex-wives and a smart-ass
mother (Jessie Royce Landis). In typical Hitchcock style,
Thornhill finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong
time. In a mere coincidence--he simply waves down a waiter
at the incorrect moment--he is mistakenly identified as
George Kaplan, American spy. Swept out of his advertising
world of lying, or as he says it, "expedient exaggeration,"
Thornhill is put in a frustrating position of telling the
truth and having no one believe him. Forcibly taken to the
international criminal Phillip Vandamm (James Mason), who
works in the trading of espionage, Thornhill is bullied
and nearly killed. The only thing that saves him is his
adept drunk driving skills.
Things get worse. Thornhill is framed for the murder of
a United Nations representative, setting him on the run
from the police and on the trail of the mysterious Kaplan,
who could be the answer to his serious dilemma. Sneaking
on a train, he meets a cool blonde (Eva Marie Saint) who
hides him from the police and seduces him. Thornhill then
arrives in Chicago, where he is supposed to meet Kaplan.
Of course that doesn't happen. What happens is one of Hitchcock's
most famous sequences: the crop-duster attack, a brilliant
example of cinematic buildup. This scene is one of many
in Hitchcock films in which the modern individual is completely
vulnerable to the freakiness of nature (as in The Birds).
A good several minutes go by in which the absense of action
and musical score allows no release of tension. This sets
the scene for more amazing set pieces to occur, and makes
North by Northwest easily one of the most exciting
pictures ever made. Predating and prophesying the modern
action movie, North by Northwest has set a standard
to which nothing else has risen. It makes you wonder whether
they don't make movies like they used to, or whether,
without Hitchcock, they simply can't.
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Willamette Week | originally
published December 1,
1999
|
