The Colour Red (Marnie (DVD))

Member Name: sunmeilan

Product:	Marnie (DVD)
Date:	20/06/06 (160 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great psychological drama

Disadvantages: Tippi Hedren's over-acting

Introduction
Being a fan of crime/thriller/psychological dramas, Alfred Hitchcock films have always appealed to me and I now have quite a collection. This is not one of the most famous of Alfred Hitchcock's films, but I believe it has been under-estimated and should be better-known than it is. The film was first released in 1964.

The director
Alfred Hitchcock was born in Leytonstowe, England and died in 1980. His film-making career began in 1919, and by 1926 had made his name in the industry with the silent film, The Lodger. He moved to Hollywood in 1940, and afterwards directed a string of films for which he is most remembered, including To Catch a Thief, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Psycho and The Birds. His final film was family plot in 1976.

The plot
Marnie is a serial thief who moves from job to job under a string of aliases. Each time she leaves, a substantial sum of money leaves with her. Then she arrives at Rutland & Co, where young Mark Rutland recognises her from a previous job she had undertaken. He decides to keep an eye on her to ensure that she doesn’t commit the same crime, but in doing so, he becomes concerned by Marnie's behaviour - particularly her fear of the colour red and storms.

Attracted to Marnie despite her behaviour, Mark battles to help her and eventually marries her. Married life, however, does not seem to solve Marnie’s problems and she remains just as distant from Mark as she did before their marriage. Slowly, Mark begins to realise that there is more to Marnie’s behaviour than meets the eye, possibly with roots in her childhood.

The actors
Sean Connery gives a fabulous portrayal of Mark Rutland and is undoubtedly the highlight of the film. As can be expected for the time, he is a man’s man and expects to be obeyed; nevertheless, something about Marnie sways him and he is determined to get to the bottom of her troubles. Connery’s portrayal of a proud, but love-lorn man is very realistically done – in the hands of a less experienced actor, it would probably not have worked. I am not a particular fan of Sean Connery – so many of his performances are average, but this is probably one of my favourite roles.

Tippi Hedren as Marnie gives a good performance; unfortunately, she does over-act at times and her manner of talking (very clear and enunciated) is annoying at times. The role of Marnie is slow to get going – Marnie is emotionally and mentally disturbed and as such, has difficultly communicating with other people. As such, she probably lost a lot of audience sympathy. However, Tippi Hedren provided good enough support for Sean Connery and her final breakdown at the end was excellent.

Tecnical aspects

Length of film: 90 minutes

Classification: 15.

Conclusion
For a Hitchcock film, this is definitely not one of his most gripping and is very slow to get going. However, throughout the film, a slow drip of information is given, enough to make the audience realise that something very odd has happened to Marnie. This really kept me enthralled. This is a film that covers the effects on mental health that abuse in childhood can lead to, which is done both sensitively and admirably, particularly considering the limited knowledge of mental illness at the time the film was made.

The strange way in which the film shows the effect of the colour red on Marnie is very well done and must have seemed very original for the time. It also has the effect of reminding the audience of the colour of blood and that something traumatic in Marnie’s past is going to be revealed. To be honest, I think the classification of 15 is a little high – there is some violence in the film, but nothing compared to the violence in some films meant for children these days. It is more what is not seen that is scary. However, some children may dislike the creepy atmosphere.

I recommend this film to anyone that enjoys psychological dramas. Although not commercially received as well as some of Hitchcock’s other films, it is very atmospheric and worth seeing for Sean Connery’s performance alone.

The DVD is available from Amazon for £5.97.

Summary: Good psychological drama