Rebecca and the Dominance Thing
I watched the first couple of parts of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca last night via the Classic Film List. Boy was I surprised. I had always remembered this as Hitchcock’s most boring film. But perhaps that was because I watched it as a boy and it is a “talkie” rather than a “shoot em up” style of story telling.
I had totally missed how ”butch” the relationships in the film are. Laurence Olivier plays DeWinter as a guy who is one step away from wearing leather underpants — yes, a serious domination complex. And Joan Fontaine is so vulnerable it almost hurts to watch each time she gets “roughed up”. And she gets roughed up at least once in almost every scene. Ouch! Even the love interest is sort of forced.
I will comment further after I watch the rest of the film. Mais mon dieux! Or as the Estonians would say “Uskumatu” (unbelievable)!
Tags: Films