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North By Northwest Themes

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North by Northwest, is a 1959 American archetypal thriller film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock. This espionage neo-noir film follows protagonist Roger O.Thornhill who is mistaken for the fabricated George Kaplan. In an effort to clear his name, and demonstrate his innocence, Thornhill is chased and framed for the murder of U.N diplomat Lester Townsend. Thornhill is then forced to acquire Kaplan's identity whilst being confronted with a mysterious femme fatale named Eve Kendall. Through Hitchcock's explicit use of mis-en-scene and complex cinematic structures such as establishing, and point of view shots, this film delivers stories and situations influenced by the 1950's era, with through the of his portrayal characters, he is able to …show more content…
In North By Northwest, Hitchcock incorporates the theme when Thornhill is mistaken for the fabricated agent George Kaplan. A result of this misconception causes everyone from his mother to Vandam, to refuse in believing his identity crisis stories. This portrayal is apparent when Vandam states "Has anyone ever told you that you overplay your various roles rather severely Mr. Kaplan?" Inferring that Thornhill overplays his roles in the film; by playing George Kaplan, "the outraged Maddison Avenue man", "a fugitive from justice", and "the peevish lover, stung by jealousy and betrayal." (Brill, N.D.) Hitchcock wanted this "one man against the world" portrayal for Thornhill as it correlated with the singular 'o' in his name; expressing that it stood for his emptiness, and lack of actuality within the film. The solidarity of Thornhill's character in North by Northwest is shown by the use of complex camera angles which further emphasises his vulnerability. For example, at the end of the United Nations scene when Thornhill is fleeing from the building, a bird's eye view shot is taken with a matte painting, which depicts him as one man fleeing the vastness of the world. Additionally, Hitchcock accentuates this portrayal by placing him in a desolate prairie landscape with no signposts that explain where he should go or what he should do. Hitchcock's explanation for why he shot the scene at this particular setting is because he wanted "to do something quite different" therefore, taking the "the loneliest, emptiest spot" he could "so that there is no place to run for cover, no place to hide, and no place for the enemy to hide." (Wemisse,2015) Roger's solitary struggle is also heightened by several factors including his status as a single man, the fact that no one believes him, the ever-present threat of a

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