STRANGERS ON A TRAINAlfred Hitchcock (1951) –

Film Noir

Characteristics•Adaptation: Strangers on a

Train by Patricia Highsmith

•Muderer: appears the most.•Music: The Band Played On

by Dimitri Tiomkin•Cameo•McGuffin (increases suspense).

Editing•Fade•Dissolve

Mise-en-scene

Acting style •Anthony Bruno: spontaneous, extravagant,

rich, obsessive, deeply disturbed, manipulative.

•Guy Haines: sensible, decent, accomplished, and respectable.-Bruno gives direct eye contact when talking, creating a sincere message. He is a wickedly strange villain, a sexually frustrated lunatic. -Guy is sensible, ambitious, decent, accomplished, and respectable. Guy’s transformation during the film.

Both main characters reinforces the duality of human nature

Costume•Black and white clothes

(virtue and villain).•Bruno : tie pin, two tone

wingtips…

Lighting•Night shots• Use of shadows in order to enhance

the psychology of the character. •Strong light/dark contrasts and

dramatic shadow patterning. Lighting definitely changes between scenes focused on Bruno, and scenes focused on Guy.

Props•Glasses. Murder shown as

reflection in a pair of eyeglasses.•Lighter. The proof, becomes a

means of blackmail. Hitchcock sets up a dual system with the lighter as the centre and Guy and Bruno as polar opposites

•The railroad. The theme of the double crossing (the "criss-cross"-theme).

Setting

•Washington D.C. (Federal Government)

•Park (which turns from fun to fear in just a few moments).

•City (labyrinth, maze) bars etc.

Composition

Adaptation•Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers

on a train (1950)

• Characters• A different story• Important props • A different ending: Guy

commits the crime