NOTE: This review will contain some spoilers concerning the film. Read at your own peril.
Hitchcock continues the momentum he has built up with his last three films and expands on his abilities as a director with an excellent look into suspense and a character's ability to cope with horrific events.
Anton Verloc (Oscar Homolka) throws sand into a generator which causes a blackout in London. He returns almost unseen to the movie theater he owns where his wife (Sylvia Sidney) is trying to appease the patrons who demand their money back. When she talks to her husband, he tells her to refund the money since he has some money coming to him. The power is restored and the patrons return to watch the film. The next day Verloc goes to the aquarium to meet a contact who is disappointed that the blackout wasn't taken seriously by Londoners. He tells him to pick up a parcel and place it in Piccadilly station which will cause some "fireworks". Verloc meets the bombmaker and is told when the bomb will explode. Meanwhile, a Scotland Yard detective Spencer (John Loder) believes that Verloc is the saboteur and is caught eavesdropping on a gathering between Verloc and a group of criminals. Suspicious that the police are aware of him, Verloc has his wife's kid brother Stevie (Desmond Tester) carry the bomb package to the train station as a favor. What will happen when the bomb goes off with its abominable results?
Sabotage is one of Hitchcock's more overlooked films probably due to confusion with its title. The movie is loosely based on Joseph Conrad's novel Secret Agent which just happened to be the title of Hitchcock's previous movie. The title also bears similarity with his 1942 movie Saboteur. Despite the confusion, the film does stand out as I mentioned before with its deliberate pacing and building of tension as Verloc's plan goes into effect. I remember in college seeing a clip of the film where Stevie is on the bus unaware of the bomb (while the audience knows it) he's carrying in a study of how suspense is built up as the clock gets closer and closer to the explosion. In his interview with Francois Truffaut, Hitchcock did express regret for Stevie's death, but in my opinion it just made the audience hate Verloc's character even more.
Sylvia Sidney gives a great performance throughout the movie but especially after the explosion where she hardly says a line but every viewer knows what she is thinking. The confrontation between she and Verloc at the climax of the film is expertly handled. Oscar Homolka is very effective in his role not playing the character as some sort of psycho, but as one completely indifferent to the consequences of his actions. John Loder's role was supposed to be originally played by Robert Donat, but when he was unable to take it due to his asthma, the role was reduced. Loder is ok, but he's a victim of the role since he's been more effective in other movies.
Critics raved about the film (the movie currently holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes - one of four Hitchcock films to do so) especially about the directing. The New York Times praised Hitchcock's use of suspense. The Monthly Film Bulletin attributed the directing as something unique to Hitchcock (the critic didn't use Hitchcockian) and being very precise. Graham Greene in the Spectator praised the film (except for Loder and Tester's performances) and say that the film marked where Hitchcock has really "come off".
Special credit in the movie is given to Walt Disney for the use of his 1935 Silly Symphonies cartoon, Who Killed Cock Robin?
Hitchcock's cameo appearance is about 9 minutes in when after the power is restored outside the movie theater, you can see Hitchcock look up at the street lamp.
Sabotage is in the public domain and can be viewed on several different streaming sites as well as be on DVD from anyone who can dupe and print cover art for a disc. I recommend the Criterion Channel's print of the film. While not being a faithful adaptation, Hitchcock does follow a bit of the theme of Joseph Conrad's Secret Agent which can be purchased here.
No comments:
Post a Comment