"Citizen Kane" or "Notorious"
Of the two films we have viewed from the 1940s ("Citizen Kane" and "Notorious"), which one do you prefer and why? Refer to the quality of film techniques used by the directors at least once for each film in your answer..
It is a hard choice. Hitchcock moves the camera beautifully; I love how he opens "Notorious" with a tracking shot past the faces of the journalists and then to Alicia from behind peering through the door of the courtroom. Welles can hold his own, but he is more about tricks of the eye; the flawless blending of miniatures with real street scenes comes to mind as does the bravura reverse tracking shot at the beginning of the film as the young Charlie Kane plays with his sleigh—the infamous “Rosebud” or MacGuffen as Hitchcock would have called it! "Citizen Kane" is more serious, somehow. "Notorious", with its love triangle is more romantic and, need I say, the screen kiss/nuzzle by Cary Grant and Ingmar Bergman is a delight to watch. I’m torn, but I choose "Notorious," perhaps because the work that Hitchcock got from his two leads is among their best. Besides, I've always liked Bergman’s work and with all the close ups we certainly have a chance to observe the quality of her acting. So, "Notorious" it is, but I could change my mind tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteIt's difficult to choose between "Citizen Kane" and "Notorious." “Citizen Kane” has wonderful camera shots. Welles was one of the first to use the famous deep focus technique in his film. Using this shot, the spectators could clearly see every actor scattered in different depths within the scene. These deep focus shots are extremely unique and technical. When Charles’ parent discuss with Mr. Thatcher, I could clearly see young Charles and the sled through the window behind them. Next, I love the use of the crane shot. I was like a bird flying in the sky looking down at the warehouse, then flying down to see the “Rosebud” in the fire.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, “Notorious” has a beautiful shot that passes the faces of Devlin with Alicia, Alex, and Alex’s mother down to the three spies. Another interesting shot is when the camera goes past Alicia's face, changes to her perspective, then rotates to show Devlin standing beside the door.
"Notorious" uses many close-up shots to create tension and direct the audience's attention. There's a close-up shot of a key in Alicia's twisting hand, which then move to her husband's face when he holds her hand. Another example is when the camera focuses close on the solemn face of the spy. I felt very nervous during the dolly shot moving across the labels of the wine bottles because of the anticipation of him discovering the swapped wine bottle. The camera then stopped on a close-up of a bottle with a label of 1940 instead of 1934. Hitchcock also used close-up shots to show the emotion between the characters. At the end of the film, there is a close-up of Alicia's smiling face when Devlin prevented Alex from getting into the car. These close-up shots deeply touched my mind. Moreover, I find it delightful to watch romantic shots with kisses between Alicia and Devlin. I love that Hitchcock's movie is full of romance and emotions. Therefore, “Notorious” is my favorite film.
I prefer 'Citizen Kane' than 'Notorious'. The Scene that young Kane playing with his sled over the window while the others talking in the house at the same time and the great zoom in scene that from overhead to the hand that holding the key were fresh in 40’s, but those are not that impressive to me because I live in 2013. I think Hitchcock is better than Wells in movie making technique. Obviously, his editing of scenes and cuts are nearly perfect and still comparable with other movies after many decades later, but I can’t feel the most important part that I felt from 'Citizen Kane'. Even though it was his first movie, Wells’ 'Citizen Kane' made me think a lot. I think it was because he knew how to communicate with spectators. His movie had kept forced me asking "why" to myself for all the time during watching it. "Why he became like that?", "Why he behaved like that?" and "Why he had to have lived such a life like that?" A movie what putting the director and the watcher asking themselves and looking for answer from it at the same time is rare even in this movie flooding ages. I could completely concentrate to watch 'Citizen Kane' but not for 'Notorious'. 'Notorious' feels like listening one-sided speech and 'Citizen Kane' makes me feel that I am having a long and deep discussion with the writer. I would rather have communication than just listen to anyone’s oration when I'm watching a movie.
ReplyDeleteWith no hesitations I pick" Notorious" as the better of the 2 movies, I enjoyed the different camera angles and close up that Mr. Hitchcock so amusingly teased us with. The Stair case scene is a perfect example of the brilliant mind at work. First the crane shot high above the party goers at the foot of the grand stairs, then the high intensity of the hero rescuing the damsel and walking down the stairs with the villain and his mother ,back and forth one person to the next the camera catches a close up of the 4 people so intensely witch help provide the precise amount of suspense needed for that scene. I liked the fact that" Notorious" kept my interest going the characters' were believable and appealing .All though it was written as a spy movie ,I liked that the romance struggle between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman .
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