Week 1: The Lodger

After watching The Lodger, I must say I really enjoy Hitchcock’s film style; it really had me anticipating what was going to happen as time progressed in the film. One of the most confusing aspects to me when I first began to watch the film was the flashing screen “To-night ‘Golden Curls’” after showing a telegram. Later I found that it referred to the fact that the avenger was out to attack women with golden blonde hair. You see the women working in the backroom begin to put on hats and wigs because they knew the avenger wanted to murder blonde women. Certain aspects of the movie made the watcher think and anticipate future events which made this movie really exciting and fun to watch.

                One of the most profound scenes was when Daisy was about to go out with the Lodger and the mother is looking on their actions from upstairs (Timestamp 45:55). The camera does numerous close up shots of the mother as she frantically paces around the upstairs room wondering what will happen to her daughter Daisy if she went out with the Lodger. As Daisy and the Lodger talk at the bottom of the stairs the mother constantly keeps a watch on them until they go out. At (Timestamp 46:30) the mother walks downstairs to find the two gone and began to look for the two around the house at an alarming rate only to find them gone. The camera is focused so that you can see all the facial expressions of the mother which really makes the audience anxious to what is going to happen later in the movie. Due to the fact that it was a Tuesday night the tension rises in the movie due to the plot that the avenger kills women on Tuesdays. At (timestamp 46:50) “God forgive me! I let her go out with the Lodger!” comes out when the mother is talking to the father, displaying her worries for allowing her daughter to go out with that stranger.

                In this scene Hitchcock uses many cinematographic techniques to really get the audience to feel what the mother is feeling at the time. He does not even use words or dialogue but by the camera angles and focus on the mother really get the audience to feel what the characters are feeling without using any words and hardly any text. The close up shots of the mother and the camera pan to Daisy and the Lodger talking at the end of the stairs really creates an ominous mood filled with apprehension for Daisy’s wellbeing. These certain techniques truly displayed the feelings and tensions between Daisy’s parents, mainly the mother, and the relationship between Daisy and the Lodger.