What Hitchcock Taught Us about Whodunnits
Although he specialised in crime thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock avoided filming whodunnits: his dislike gives a clue to both readers and spectators about the nature of what could be termed a “Hitchcock-genre” and about the thrill some still get from seemingly old fashioned novels of the 1930s. Whodunni...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Centre de Recherche "Texte et Critique de Texte"
2004-12-01
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| Series: | Sillages Critiques |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/sillagescritiques/1554 |
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| Summary: | Although he specialised in crime thrillers, Alfred Hitchcock avoided filming whodunnits: his dislike gives a clue to both readers and spectators about the nature of what could be termed a “Hitchcock-genre” and about the thrill some still get from seemingly old fashioned novels of the 1930s. Whodunnits follow a strict pattern of double narration (the inquest strives to recreate the hidden story of the crime) and of a double “game” (the “author” challenges the reader and the characters keep challenging each other). But the main thrill might result from a specific tension between a logical quest and an ever expected meta-religious instant of revelation: doubt and certainty, mastery and subversion. |
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| ISSN: | 1272-3819 1969-6302 |