/Marnie (64 Hitch)/ [***1/2 out of 4] I first saw this when I was 18 years old- literally half a lifetime ago!- and I was pretty let down. 18 year olds can be really stupid sometimes. Yet I can understand where I was coming from re: MARNIE- being only familiar with Hitchcocks big-name titles, I found this light on suspense and heavy on melodrama, which is of course a word (and a concept) most people who dont know any better treat as an insult. Seeing it now, I saw some solid suspenseful bits (the shoe!) but this feels closer to the spirit of a kinky potboiler a la LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN than any other Hitchcock film Ive seen. This kinky tendency makes the film endlessly compelling, particularly with regards to Mark (Sean Connery) whos supposed to be the straight man in the story but is clearly being motivated by something mysterious and dark. The casting of Connery is a masterstroke- hes got enough star charisma (and lets be fair, young Connery was a GOOD LOOKIN DUDE) that the tendency is to like him, but hes also something of a bull in the china shop in Marnies life, enforcing his will upon her well beyond the obvious instance of it. In the end, we find out whats eaten at Marnie all those years, but are no closer to cracking the far more tantalizing mystery of what makes Mark tick. And to Hitchs credit, he just lets the questions linger. Or did he know himself? Either way, its bloody fascinating.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Feb 2014 05:19:48 +0000
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