Week 2 Blog: 39 Steps

     "39 Steps" could been seen as a journey of Richard Hannay in search for a safe haven.  The plot suggests that he is going to somewhere safe with each new location, but the filming techniques foreshadows that he is simply stepping into one trap after another.
    The train Hannay takes after fleeing his apartment serves to lead him to the truth and hence freedom.  But the frequent use of medium close-up shots and the two instances of someone pushing past him to reach their destination (21:05 and 24:10) makes the train feel much more confined than it really is.  This sense of claustrophobia continues with John's house.  Hannay's "bed" is simply a little opening in a wall with a sliding door.  With the door closed, one can really feel how helpless Hannay would be behind it.
    Another method Hitchcock utilizes is making the mise-en-scene around Hannay resemble a prison cell.  The villain's room seems very grand and extravagant at first, but a very peculiar detail with the windows seems to contradict the rest of the room.  The cross-hatched pattern outside the window makes it resemble a prison cell's window (40:10).  A similar setting occurs in the police stations where the windows are barred (45:20).  This detail suggests that wherever Hannay was, it may not have seen so safe afterall.
     The recurring techniques that Hitchcock uses to give a sense of confinement is a motif that hints Hannay was never safe.  The plot suggests safety at first in order to surprise the viewers, but through his techniques, the viewers already have a nagging feeling that things will not turn out well. I think that the surprise works even better when that nagging feeling is fulfilled.