North by Northwest

North by Northwest. Alfred Hitchcock. 1959.

I must have seen this several times before, but not in 2K. The only thing I remember is Cary Grant running in a field? of corn? with a plane trying to kill him?

But I remember it in black and white, so I may be getting my wires crossed, because this has colour.

So much colour. I think they may have over-saturated this a bit during the transfer.

This is a masterpiece of nightmarish gaslighting and spiralling conspiracy. I don’t usually enjoy these things that much because I just instinctually go AAAAAAAAAAAA!!! but it’s tempered by Cary Grant’s perfectly balanced acting: He’s in a horrible situation, but he’s Cary Grant, you know?

Without Grant this movie would have been ridiculous, but he makes everything make sense. We can believe that Eve Kendall (Eva Marie Saint) would have this reaction to a wanted killer instead of the sensible one.

At 136 minutes, I think this is one of Hitchcock’s longest movies? But it’s so obvious why: It’s not because this has the best plot ever (it’s rather incoherent), but every scene is just a joy to watch. It’s tense and it’s funny.