Jane Campion is the first ever woman to receive the Palm d'Or at Cannes for the Piano. She is also one of only 4 women nominated for an academy award for Best Director. She won an academy award for Best Original screenplay for The Piano. Selected Filmography: Bright Star (2009) The Portrait of a Lady (1996) The Piano (1993) Current/Future Projects: Campion is executive producer for acclaimed miniseries Top of the Lake. She will be co-writing and co-directing a second season. Wikipedia Page IMBD Profile
Kathryn Bigelow The first woman to win an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critic's Choice Movie Award and Directors Guild of America Award for directing The Hurt Locker (2008). She was also the first woman to win a Saturn Award for Best Director for Strange Days (1995). Often she is described as working in male dominated genres but surely with so few women working in film all genres are male dominated. Selected Filmography: Zero Dark Thirty (2012) Point Break (1991) Near Dark (1987) Current/Future Projects: An untitled film set during the 1967 Detroit riots. Wikipedia Page IMDB Profile
Mira Nair Her debut feature Salaam Bombay (1988) was nominated for an Academy Award. She won the Golden Lion for Mississipi Massala at the Venice Film Festival. Selected Filmography: Vanity Fair (2004) Monsoon Wedding (2001) Mississippi Massala (1991) Current/Future Projects: Her next release will be Queen of Katwe a Disney film starring Lupita N'yongo and David Oyelowo. Wikipedia Page IMDB Page
Andrea Arnold She won an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short for WASP (2003) a BAFTA for Outstanding Debut in 2007 for Red Road and was awarded an OBE in 2011. Selected Filmography: Wuthering Heights (2011) Fish Tank (2009) Red Road (2006) Current/Future Projects: 2 episodes of Transparent and film American Honey showing at Cannes 2016. Wikipedia IMDB Profile
Gurinder Chadha Her highest grossing film Bend it Like Beckham$76,583,333 on a budget of $6 million. It helped catapult Kiera Knightley to stardom and also starred Parminder Nagra and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Selected Filmography: Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008) Bend it Like Beckham (2002) Bhaji on the Beach (1993) Current/Future Projects: Viceroy's house due for release 2016. Wikipedia Page IMDB Profile
Director Alfred Hitchcock and writer Ernest
Lehman were originally employed by MGM for a screen adaptation of “The Wreck of
the Mary Deare” (Taylor, 1978). However, after some time Lehman realised he was
uninspired by the novel and could not write the script. Hitchcock enjoyed
Lehman’s company and, unperturbed by his inability to adapt the novel, began
kicking around several unconnected ideas for sequences that he had always wanted
to film. A man being pursued across Mount Rushmore, a murder that takes place
in the United Nations building in New York and so on. The plot of North by
Northwest was, in effect, built around these set pieces. The locations of these
sequences are all quintessential American spaces from the bustling streets of
New York to Mount Rushmore (Millington, 1999). This is perhaps ironic
considering the hero, villain and even head of US intelligence are all
portrayed as British in the film. One sequence in particular, the crop duster
scene, has become iconic and been imitated and parodied countless times. Nathan
remarks that it is “one of cinema’s most memorable images... outrageous,
exciting and ineffably cool” (2010, pp. 151).
This subversion of expectation happens repeatedly as
several cars pass Thornhill with no consequence. Finally a car appears from behind
a cornfield and a man gets out and walks up to the side of the road. Thornhill
assumes that this must be George Kaplan, the man who he has been mistaken for
and the reason he has had to flee New York in fear for his life. The audience
knows this is impossible however as it has been revealed to them that Kaplan is
a non-existent decoy created by the United States Intelligence Agency to divert
suspicion from their real operative. With the knowledge that Kaplan does not
exist, it appears that this man must be working for the antagonists but this is
another red herring. The man is simply waiting for a bus, before he departs
however he serves another purpose, that of drawing our attention to the real danger
with the line “That plane’s dustin’ crops where there ain’t no crops.” Finally
after nearly five minutes and four misdirections the true antagonists are
revealed. In fact the crop duster had already made its appearance at a little
over a minute into the scene. Its significance reduced by the fact that it
appears far off into the
distance. “The size of an object in the frame, should equal its importance in
the story at the moment” (Newman, 2013, pp. 94). Here Hitchcock has reduced the
artificial control of the plane not because it is insignificant to the story
but to foreshadow later events in a subtle almost subliminal way. When the
plane begins to attack Thornhill the scene becomes rapid and thrilling. The antagonists’’
motivation for luring him into the desert to shoot him down with a plane is
unimportant. According to Hitchcock the film was a fantasy but, in the Cold War
climate, it was a paranoid one “that brought the individual’s desire into
alignment with the nation’s security interests” (Corber, 1993).
The scene
was extensively storyboarded by Hitchcock and shot mostly on location with some
inserts filmed in front of a rear projection in the studio. The scene is a
total of nine minutes and forty five seconds and unusually, for Hitchcock and
his editor George Tomasini, involves a high number of cuts that are short in
length (North by Northwest: Deconstruction
of a Scene, 2015). Why would Hitchcock employ so many cuts when his usual preference was for long takes? The simplest
answer may be that it is because it was written that way. Lehman often
suggested camera placements which at one point, whilst filming the mount Rushmore
scene, resulted in an outburst from Hitchcock (Taylor, 1978). Reading Lehman’s
screenplay there are a number of notable differences from the final film as
shot, such as his suggestion of using helicopter shots where Hitchcock decided to
only use cranes and his depiction of the criminals in the plane that was never
shot (Gianetti, 2011). Nevertheless, much of what is onscreen is in the
screenplay including its emphasis on space and silence.
It is worth noting that
music only appears in the scene near the end when the crop duster crashes into
the oil truck.
Also up until this point in the film Thornhill has only been
shown in crowded areas or confined spaces. Now for the first time he is utterly
alone in an open field. “The challenge and the grandeur of the wide open spaces
of the Western become a paranoid nightmare by the late 1950s...Thornhill’s suit
and tie are peculiarly but aptly out of place in the heart of the country”
(Monaco and Lindroth, 1994, pp. 314). It is not only his suit that is out of
place, Thornhill himself is a fish out of water. Up until this point he has
survived by using his quick wit, money and fast talking charm but here in the
middle of nowhere on the run from a malevolent plane all these assets are of no
use. He cannot talk or buy his way out of this and there is nowhere to run.
When he tries to take cover in a field of corn the antagonists let loose a
poisonous dust which forces him back out into the open.
The scene
has become iconic and highly influential. Similar scenes have appeared in such
diverse works as Bombay Ka Chor (1962), From Russia with Love (1963), Mad Max
Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), Looper
(2012) and Midsomer Murders (2014).
In an interview with Scott Thill Ghost
Protocol director Brad Bird stated:
what
was on my mind during the sandstorm chase in
Dubai was how to make a
suspense scene in the middle of the day, and North By Northwest’s crop duster sequence is
the greatest example of that. Usually with suspense, you aim for darkness and
claustrophobic spaces. But Hitchcock set that scene in the middle of the day,
in a cornfield with an infinite field of view, which broke all the rules and
delivered an amazing sequence. So yeah, I was inspired by that (2011).
Interestingly the sandstorm
chase may be closer to Hitchcock’s original vision than the scene in North by
Northwest. The director originally wanted Thornhill to be attacked by a
tornado. Unsure of how the villains would be able to use a tornado as a weapon
Lehman suggested a crop duster (Akroyd, 2015). In the sequence from Ghost
Protocol, Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt contends with a sandstorm whilst in
pursuit. Like Thornhill he decides to steal a vehicle whilst its owner is
distracted. He even wears a suit in what is perhaps an homage to Thornhill. Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2012)
The crop duster scene has also been parodied a number of times for comedic
effect. Spoof versions have appeared in Follow that Bird (1985), The Simpsons
(1991), (1994) and (1998), Stuart Little 2 (2002), Scrubs (2004), Family Guy
(2005) amongst others.
Even from this partial list it is obvious that the scene
has inspired filmmakers since it first appeared and continues to be a source of
inspiration to this day. The scene exerts a power of its own, independent or
perhaps even greater than the rest of the film, as the characters and plots
were built around such very scenes.
References
Ackroyd, P. (2015)Alfred Hitchcock. United Kingdom: Chatto & Windus.
Bordwell, D. and Thompson, K. (2013)Film art: An introduction. 10th edn. New York: McGraw Hill Higher Education.
Corber, R.J. (1993)In the name of national security: Hitchcock,
homophobia, and the political construction of gender in postwar America. United States: Duke University Press.
Millington, R.H. (1999). Hitchcock and
American Character The Comedy of Self-Construction in North by Northwest. In:
Freedman, J and Millington, RHitchcock's
America. New York: Oxford University Press. p135-154.
Mission:
Impossible – Ghost Protocol (2012) Directed by B. Bird [DVD] Los
Angeles: Paramount Home Entertainment.
Monaco, J. and Lindroth, D. (2000)How to read a film: The world of movies, media, and
multimedia: Language, history, theory. 3rd edn. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nathan, I. (2010) ‘The Complete Hitchcock’, Empire
(July) pp.151.
Newman, R. (2013)Cinematic Game Secrets for Creative Directors and
Producers: Inspired Techniques from Industry Legends. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
North by Northwest
(2009) Directed by A. Hitchcock [Blu-ray] Los Angeles: Warner Brothers Inc.
The famous crop duster sequence was created as a way of subverting cliche. The audience knows something bad will happen to the character of Roger Thornhill but is left in suspense wondering where the attack will come from since he is standing in an empty field.
"Now how is this usually done? A dark night... The waiting victim standing in a pool of light under a street lamp. The cobbles are 'washed with the recent rains'...The slow approch of a black limousine etc." - Hitchcock from Hitchcock by Francois Truffaut.
The dreaded attack comes from the sky in the form of a crop duster.
Hitchcock was famous for his use of storyboards. This video edits together the storyboards created for the crop-duster sequence.
This video breaks down how the sequence uses silence and space to create a sense of anticipation in the scene.
Influence
"It’s funny that you mention North By Northwest, because what was on my mind during the sandstorm chase in Dubai was how to make a suspense scene in the middle of the day, and North By Northwest‘s crop duster sequence is the greatest example of that... Hitchcock set that scene in the middle of the day, in a cornfield with an infinite field of view, which broke all the rules and delivered an amazing sequence. So yeah, I was inspired by that." Brad Bird Director of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol from a wired.com interview
At first the crop duster sequence of North by Northwest and the Sandstorm from Ghost Protocol seem quite different but there are a number of similarities. Originally Hitchcock had envisioned a tornado attacking Roger Thornhill in the desert instead of the crop duster. In this sequence from Ghost Protocol we see Tom Cruise's character Ethan Hunt battling a sandstorm during a chase scene. Like Thornhill he decides to steal a vehicle whilst its owner is distracted. He even wears a grey suit in what is perhaps an hommage to Thornhill.
Parody
The scene has become iconic and has been parodied a number of times by The Simpsons, Sesame Street and Family Guy among others.
This Moderninst painting by Piet Mondrian uses lines to separate blocks of bold colour. Similar designs can be seen in North by Northwest in architecture, on decor even in the opening title sequence.
Yves Saint Laurent designed Mondrian inspired dresses in 1966.
This article discusses the influence of the artists Klee and Mondrian on Hitchcock.
"North by Northwest explores the clash between tradition and modernism... the point of so much modern art wasn't just to say something new, but, rather, to highlight the hollowness of modernism itself, especially the lethal hypocrisy of modern statecraft."
- Excerpt from article.
Theatrical Poster for the film, utilising the square motif.
The opening Credits for the film were created by renowned graphic designer Saul Bass. The grid pattern is our very first image in the film. They appear almost like lines on a map. The titles then dissolve into a picture of a skyscraper with the grid pattern becoming the windows of the building.
A short video about Saul Bass.
This image of the outside of the UN building again emphasizes this grid pattern.
The lines on the inside of this train carriage seem to almost form a web in which Cary Grant is caught. A perfect metaphor for the film's plot.
A chessboard style pattern can be seen on the walls and floor of this restaurant. The column also has a grid pattern. The chessboard motif fits in with the film's plot of spies and criminals trying to outwit each other.
Even the windows have a modernist rectangular design.
The tall thin trees form stark lines which separate the two characters just like the thick black lines in Mondrian's painting separate the blocks of colour.
The character of Eve Kendall is trapped and isolated by the gridlock windows of this house. Even the walls of the house contain a grid pattern.
The Vandamm house was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's modernist designs which were popular at the time the movie came out. His fee was much too high for the studios to consider so the set designers created their own Modernist style house.
This article explains the origins of the Vandamm house.
"To understand how the Vandamm house came into "existence", you have to understand the main point of "North by Northwest"... it is about a man who is surrounded by the trappings of wealth, power and prestige- none of which are of any use to him... Hitchcock had two basic reasons for all this luxe. First was the movie’s theme of isolation amidst luxury, of course. But there was another reason: "North by Northwest" was designed from its inception as a very, very commercial movie. Hitchcock knew the mass audience responded very well to being shown things and places they couldn’t really afford."
- Extract from article by Sandy McLendon
Modernist art and architecture was still popular when the film was released in 1959. The film was a commercial studio picture and the clothes and locations featured in the film are very glamourous. However the grids and geometric patterns also isolate the characters, separating them from each other. They create visual mazes and webs that the characters must navigate their way out of. They also recall chessboards, the characters of Roger Thornhill and Eve Kendall being pawns in the spy game who must break free and determine their own lives.
