“This is Alfred Hitchcock speaking. In the past, I have given you many kinds of suspense pictures. But this time, I would like you to see a different one. The difference lies in the fact that this is a true story, every word of it. And yet it contains elements that are stranger than all the fiction that has gone into many of the thrillers that I’ve made before.”
The usual elements in a Hitchcock film is suspense weaved throughout the film’s plot, characters that are shown to be deeply and psychologically profound, a voyeuristic feel. Hitchcock was always keen to show the true cost of people’s actions. A case of a mistaken identity, the story was drawn from a real life incident, which came out in Life magazine as “The True Story of Christopher Emmanuel Balestrero”. This movie is a model of storytelling in which emotions are transmitted through pictures and not words. Robert Burks has used the visual style that is Stark black and white realism and there are a number of low-angle close-ups of faces—what is sometimes referred to as framing for emotion. With all this and much more fascinating techniques the film unfolds like a docu-drama.
Henry Fonda stoically portrays a character who is at his wit’s end but never seems to lose his composure. Emotionally restrained performances can be difficult for some actors, but Fonda does an excellent job of displaying the terror of being accused through his eyes and body language. One of the greatest scenes ever shot is when Fonda is completely overwhelmed by the insanity of the entire situation by the time he stands alone in his cell. The actor brought to life all the Hitchcock’s stylistic elements. His imprisonment caused his wife to have a nervous breakdown and had to be sent to an asylum. At this point the intensity is at its peak.
Chirpy dialogue, colorful characters and staged design often cushion the suspenseful atmosphere found in other Hitchcock films, The Wrong Man provides us with none of those comforts. Instead we are left out in the cold like the protagonist – claustrophobic and drained. The film is technically flawless, and Hitchcock has used editing, sound and image to enlarge the story and performance. The image below makes it clear what a devastating period it was for the Balestrero’s and how a little error proved to what one can say was the most deadly experience. But it’s over.
If you are a fan of Hitchcock this may quench your thirst. If you love true stories, this may peek an eye or if you just like Noir then pick this up. It’s well paced and is compulsory to follow.
All hail Alfred Hitchcock.
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