tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post6123717993648998837..comments2024-03-08T18:49:51.289-05:00Comments on Classic Film and TV Café: A Review of "Darkness Visible: Hitchcock's Greatest Film"Rick29http://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-5084597059086450142014-10-08T14:23:46.852-04:002014-10-08T14:23:46.852-04:00Brian's title is significant. Milton's Sat...Brian's title is significant. Milton's Satan is condemned to 'darkness visible' by the hand of God. The writing of Paradise Lost has context. Milton lost his sight. Inner vision replaced outward vision. Much of his epic was composed in the middle of sleepness nights. He was in a state of despair. The English Revolution in which he had invested so much hope had failed. The Restoration saw the return of King Charles the Second. Milton hated kings and still longed for a republic. William Blake argued that Milton was really on the Devil's side and didn't know it. Before Paradise Milton believed in the divinity of Christ. After Paradise he seems to have been an Arian; that is, denying the co-equality and co-eternity of Christ with the Father. Modern readers of Milton suggest that Cromwell may have served as a model for Satan. Now we come to Brian. His early novel, The Born Giant, drew powerfully on Miltonic myth- making. Are you still trying to grab the Devil's tail, Brian? Or is it Hitch's coat-tails you are swinging from? Psycho the movie was a curtain raiser for so many grisly serial murders. Life imitates art. Here in Glasgow we even had a deranged serialist who went by the name the media created for him, Bible John. Then there was the Yorkshire Ripper, and the quiet London bachelor who took in homeless men and murdered them. 'Killing for company' a writer called it. There were also the World's End murders in Edinburgh. In publishing terms too murder has become big business. There's Scandinavian noir, Scottish noir. Gaelic noir and Irish noir. For all that we are none the wiser. In what sense is Satan's dasrkness visible? What is the black light? I say it's time we started reading the Puritans; men like John Owen, Daniel Sibbes and Richard Baxter. How about a truly theological detective, Brian? If there be light in our darkness it may well be counter-cultural.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-659571326795359772014-10-07T14:30:52.396-04:002014-10-07T14:30:52.396-04:00What would Vertigo have been like with the dream c...What would Vertigo have been like with the dream casting of Grace Kelly and Cary Grant? These twain were Hitch's first choice for the movie's dream-within-a-dream team. To me Grace Kelly was the most sensuous kisser on the big screen; just watch her try to kiss Jimmy Stewart in the movie where he wears a plaster cast on his leg; Jimmy is so not interested that it's like he's gay or Polish catholic or something. Still, I adore Vertigo as it is. Kim Novak looks so not there, a beautiful savant. This time it's James Stewart's turn to get his amorous and find himself thwarted. The street locations around San Francisco are wonderfully done. Remember the lady in the remote boarding house on the hill? So very evocative. And when you think about it, Vertigo is the ugly truth about obsessive love. Everyone has been there. We all want to set our boats against the current and return to some golden past, some golden girl. F Scott Fitzgerald wrote two novels about it, The Great Gatsby and Tender is the Night. See you in Matilda's coffee house, Brian.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-3875182616897627012013-02-20T19:54:41.134-05:002013-02-20T19:54:41.134-05:00What a delightful way to spend your Saturday night...What a delightful way to spend your Saturday nights!Rick29https://www.blogger.com/profile/08358116647815569722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-67337644931693413822013-02-17T00:30:24.123-05:002013-02-17T00:30:24.123-05:00I show films for my neighbors every Saturday night...I show films for my neighbors every Saturday night; this evening I exhibited I CONFESS- and I confess I found it to be an under-rated film. Hitch's direction here is superlative; I CONFESS is a little neglected masterpiece.Ace89https://www.blogger.com/profile/10910988855113730739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-72450093128939599612013-02-10T21:57:59.805-05:002013-02-10T21:57:59.805-05:00This sounds like a terrific read! Have added it to...This sounds like a terrific read! Have added it to my reading list. Thanks for the review. :)Silver Screeningshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04955048716754142299noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-86956116222984358502013-02-10T21:47:07.250-05:002013-02-10T21:47:07.250-05:00REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST & PSY...REAR WINDOW, VERTIGO, NORTH BY NORTHWEST & PSYCHO.Ace89https://www.blogger.com/profile/10910988855113730739noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5344878851139332715.post-88432596865454880552013-02-08T18:19:29.114-05:002013-02-08T18:19:29.114-05:00Rick, it was interesting reading your review of Ha...Rick, it was interesting reading your review of Hannan's e-book. It is indeed hard to define the criteria that define "greatness." It seems as if the early films, works of the '30s and '40s and later movies were dismissed by the author a bit too easily. But it is always good to hear of another fan of Hitchcock. toto2https://www.blogger.com/profile/09652682900471649463noreply@blogger.com