Spellbound
Today, Loris has complained a little bit about how I have not updated my blog in awhile. I have been busy. Now, truth to be told, I wasn’t technically busy (though I am indeed behind with some of my work), it’s rather that I have not been in the mood of writing blog postings. At the same time, of course, the clock is ticking, and I feel like I have already forgotten half of “Spellbound” already, so I should better say what I remember about it.
Writing a blog post late has the benefit that by this time, I have typically figured out what I truly found memorable about a film. It’s just like listening to an album a second time – most often the experience is entirely different. I rarely re-watch a film, but I do think about films differently when it’s been a week or so. For example, I almost fell asleep back when I saw “Menschen am Sonntag”, but somehow elements of the film still remain fresh in my memory, and I have a tender fascination for it. “Spellbound” is also perhaps one of Hitchcock’s more memorable films, especially for the dream sequence.
In fact, I saw the dream sequences several times in museums, whenever there was some Dalí exhibition around, and now I finally got around to see it in the context of the original movie. Considering that everything in the dreams are ultimately explained by the story, I have to admit that the mystery and ambiguity that comes with most of Dalí’s work has gotten destroyed a little. Being able to understand our dreams fully is mere wishful thinking, and only a Hitchcock movie allows you to do that without being completely ridiculous. As a storytelling device, I thought the dreams were quite lovely and almost felt a little short. I totally wanted to see more of it.
Apart from the dream sequence, the film was typical Hitchcock – a suspenseful thriller and a nice revelation at the end. The other truly enticing element about “Spellbound” was actually the combination of Gregory Peck and Ingrid Bergman. I am a fan of both actors, albeit without a good reason – the former for “Roman Holiday” and the latter for literally everything else she has done except “Casablanca”. I think they look lovely together, and “Spellbound” is perhaps the most romantic Hitchcock I have seen so far. A lot of attention has been given to the blossoming love between these characters, which goes beyond your usual Hitchcock which is pretty much just “man with shallow blonde”. (“Vertigo” is the big exception in this case, it still qualifies as “man with blonde”, but it’s a complicated obsession.)
I will definitely see “Notorious” and “Psycho” some day, but wow I am running out of Hitchcocks to see, aren’t I?