Week 1 Blog: The Lodger

(Reposted as a blog. This used to be a comment on the first blog)

One particularly suspenseful scene in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Lodger" is the one where the lodger makes his first appearance at the Bunting's doorstep (time stamp--14:55). The lodger slowly approaches the door and casts an enormous shadow that overlooks half of the shot. This makes the man appear sinister. The position of the camera is over the shoulder of the man so that the viewers seem to approach the house alongside the mysterious man. When Mrs. Bunting opens the door for him, a cloud of fog enters the house in the background, blurring the body in a shroud of mystery (time stamp--15:26). The lodger's dark entrance gives the audience the impression that he may be the antagonist of the film and is up to no good.

The way the lodger appears in his entrance hints to the viewers that he may be the Avenger that city detectives have been looking for since the beginning of the movie. As described toward the beginning of the film by a female bystander of The Avenger's murder (time stamp--3:05), the lodger highly resembles the description given for the killer--tall, wears a hat, and covers the bottom portion of his face. Mrs. Bunting had an expression of distress when she opened the door and first saw the man, implying to the audience that the lodger’s presence was menacing (time stamp--15:29). The way Hitchcock filmed the lodger’s entrance inexplicitly suggested to the viewers that the murderer supposedly on the loose is now living in the house with the Bunting’s along with Daisy, the daughter of the house that fits the description of the Avenger’s victims: female with blonde hair.

In addition to the lodger’s entrance, the Bunting’s house number is “13”. Based on superstition, the number “13” has a negative implication at which bad events typically take place when the number appears. This detail, with the entrance of the mysterious lodger, adds to the suspense in the scene.