North by Northwest

North by Northwest is a 1959 film directed by the "master of suspense", himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint  star in the fairly suspenseful, action packed thriller.

Madison Avenue advertising executive, Roger Thornhill is accidentally mistaken for another man and kidnapped. No matter how many times he insists that they have the wrong man, the kidnappers don't believe him. Since he is unable to give them the information they are seeking from him, they force him to drink bourbon and try to stage a drunk driving accident resulting in his death. Despite their efforts and whilst under the influence, Thornhill manages to steer the car, although wildly, away from most life threatening situations and survives the night. Unfortunatly, not even his mother believes the story and he is charged for drunk driving. To make matters worse, the kidnappers are still hungry for his recapture and death and the plot unfolds into a series of action packet and suspenseful scenes as he is chased across the country. To add a bit more excitement to his adventure he meets a very attractive yet suspicious female, Eve Kendall, along the way.

I found the beginning to be quite fast compared to other Hitchcok films, but the first scene gives away a substantial amount of information about Cary Grant's character so I didn't feel that I needed to know him better by the initial incident. As the movie progressed there were some scenes that really caught my attention (like the Mr. Townsend's death and the airplane attack scene), but by the end, I felt that the story was beginning to drag on and I was ready for the movie to be over. Despite the fact that I felt that way, when it finally came to the final scene I felt that it stopped too suddenly. Although abrupt endings seem to be a signature of Hitchcock's and the story had resolved, I found it too predictable and hasty, and because of this it was not quite satisfying.

What I really appreciated about this movie was the use of sets and the interesting characters. Although I didn't quite notice it at first, Hichcock used a forest set to create symbolism. The trees framed and divided the camera shots in certain ways to symbolize the relationship between Grant and Saint's characters. In one shot the two of them were divided and it looked as though they were very far apart. As they continued talking and walking closer together, they broke barriers in their relationship, which is represented as they pass trees. What I also really liked were the characters that were portrayed in the film. Roger Thornhill, introduced as a rich, somewhat rude man who wants things his way, put together with the smart, beautiful and manipulative character of Eve Kendall, proved to be an interesting mix. One of my favourite scenes is when Roger visits Eve in her hotel room. I enjoyed how the two characters talked to each other because, as the audience, it's hard to tell who's side Eve is on, how much Roger trusts her and who is one step ahead of who.  The mixture of romantic, yet untrustworthy feelings brought an interesting dynamic to the scene and untimely the entire film.

Although I was left slightly unsatisfied, I still appreciate the clever techniques that were used, the characters and the interesting plot line of this film. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a suspenseful thriller that will, for the most part, keep them on the edge of their seat!