童話課作業
Nov. 2013
I remember reading Rebecca
by author Daphne du Maurier for the first time: at 16, it looked but an
old-fashioned romance novel with great suspense. It was afterwards that I
watched Hitchcock’s film by the same title, and I was utterly thrilled. Later
over the years, although I’ve been introduced to classics such as Rear Window, Psycho, and Dial M for Murder,
Rebecca still remains my favorite
Hitchcock film. In the book, the haunting opening passage gives readers a
dreamlike and almost ghostly impression on Manderley, a mansion where most of Rebecca’s story takes place. “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley
again…” The movie also had that introduction. It did such a great job in
drawing the audience in, adding a mysterious, unfortunate shade to the later
story. And to think about it, Manderley was really the heart of all those
deeply hidden secrets.
The most important and prominent figure in this film of
course, was Rebecca, the woman who never showed nor did she have any line but
was everywhere to be seen in the film. I mean, her name was even featured as
the movie title! In comparison, the 2nd Mrs. de Winter was really
the one without a name, the one who was so shy and awkward, and the one whose
anonymity was too “deliberately” overlooked by other characters that this
couldn’t be just an accident. In fact, the author and director have done such a
great job of building Rebecca’s fierce character, that her existence outshined
that of 2nd Mrs. de Winter’s. Her phantom haunts, in every twist and
turn of the story, her stuff all over Manderley with the big cheeky “R” on
them. As the audience, it was as if we could feel the 2nd Mrs. de
Winter’s pressure of being an outsider and living under the shadow of someone
from the past. (The phone scene where Mrs. de Winter picks up and tells the
dialer “Mrs. de Winter is dead” is brilliant.)
Rebecca
is also said to be of “Bluebeard” reference. I think there are some striking
similarities indeed. Still, one should take into account that the story of “Bluebeard”
was set in the medieval times, when murderers could easily get away with crimes.
Up until the early 20th century, technology wasn’t so commonly used
in crime investigation, and so writers could still produce stories like Rebecca. If “Bluebeard” is going to be
realistic right now, it has to transform, perhaps into a more metaphorical,
psychological version like Atwood’s rendition. Modern readers are still able to
relate to the “Bluebeard” motif though, in a sense which has more to do with
abusive relationships. It seems to me that in Rebecca, Maxim’s character is a typical emotionally (and with the
potential of being physically) abusive one, although for the most part the
audience can well regard him as the good guy. (And Laurence Olivier was super beautiful!)
He’s got quite a temper. Touch an unexpected nerve and the consequences may be
dire. The relationship between Maxim and Mrs. de Winter was becoming so
questionable with each time of Maxim getting furious, scolding and scaring Mrs.
de Winter, apologizing, and eventually being forgiven. Maybe it was the
director trying to build suspense, but still, Maxim was a rather moody man.
In a nutshell, Hitchcock was truly a
genius, in that he had us all on the edge of our seats, creating such an
atmosphere in which we couldn’t even decide who was more scary and suspicious- was
it Mrs. Danvers, Rebecca, Jack, or Maxim?- until the very last minute. Yet,
when the truth came out, it managed to be convincing to say the least.
註：就在班上看完電影後幾日，便傳出了女主角Joan Fontaine逝世的遺憾消息。Aged 96, it wasn't as tragic a death as an untimely one, but it was still a great loss for the movie world. R.I.P Miss Fontaine.
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