The Criterion Channel has a collection of 1960s Alfred Hitchcock movies this month so I decided to revisit 1964's Marnie. I'd last watched it eleven years ago and I find my opinion really hasn't changed much.
I'm a little more receptive to the idea now that, in a relationship, one partner having the psychological upperhand might be beneficial. Marnie (Tippi Hedren) really does need help and it's hard to imagine a scenario in which she'd end up getting qualified professional help on her own. She's a thief living under assumed identities, she's pathologically afraid of men, and she has so little control over herself that she's sometimes immobilised by the sight of the colour red.
Mark Rutland (Sean Connery) doesn't render proper assistance, though. Well, he's not all bad. Most of the time he's kind and gentle and at least he does guide her on the path of self-analysis. His decision to rape her, however, doesn't seem helpful any way you look at it. I don't think her subsequent suicide attempt was well dealt with either. I suppose you could say that this was relatively new territory for Hitchcock and American cinema in general so covering these topics was bound to be awkward. This was also an era when Hitchcock came into the unfortunate habit of burdening his films with needless exposition and Mark's amateur psychoanalysing is all flat and dull.
Bernard Herrmann's score is great, though, and the visuals are sometimes lovely. And it's just nice to be in that world of Hitchcock for a little while.
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