Alfred Hitchcock
Il delitto perfetto

The most fertile and creative period of Hitchcock, the one in which he perfects the stylistic expression of his works, is the "American" period. Without forgetting the over 200 TV episodes "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", his most beautiful films from this period include "Shadow of a Doubt", "Strangers on a Train", "North by Northwest", "Rear Window", "Psycho", "Frenzy", "Rope", and "Dial M for Murder". The review of which follows.

The tennis player Tony Wenice (Ray Milland, the most cynical character Hitchcock ever portrayed), leads a luxurious life at the expense of his wealthy wife Margot (Grace Kelly). When he learns that she has an affair with writer Mark Halliday (Robert Cummings), Tony decides to kill her for fear of being left and losing his privileged status, thus devising a sophisticated plan to commit the murder. He finds the right hitman for the task, blackmailing his old university companion, Swan (Anthony Dawson). On the night the crime is supposed to take place, Tony creates an alibi by attending a dinner with other people. During the evening, he calls his wife, the killer is already in the house, he must strike at the moment the woman answers the call... but here comes the first twist.

The play "Dial M for Murder" by Frederick Knott, a story of strong shades of rare beauty, complicated and very difficult to script, became a film ("Dial M for Murder") at the hands of Alfred Hitchcock, who turned it into a psychological thriller, with perfectly calculated suspense. Suspense is the word most often cited when talking about Hitch, the expressive characteristic that has always been associated with him, the imprint he has given to almost all his works. Actors as pieces that move in the design of a criminal story, a slow and throbbing anticipation of the development of events, with a clear separation between what the audience knows and what the characters on the scene know. These are the most important elements of the narrative technique of the English director, which made him famous and evoke interest and emotional involvement in his films.

Following the criteria adopted for "Rope", "Dial M for Murder" is set in a single room, there are no scenes of particular violence, the director dedicates himself solely to the development of the plot intricacies, to the perfect mechanism designed by Frederick Knott. The audience knows the mastermind and the plan he has conceived, the exact sequence of events, the psychology of the characters. While they unknowingly play out their fate, the tension never drops because we know, we have an active role, which forces us to be on the edge of our seats for the entire duration of the film. A film with an impeccable narrative mechanism, which has its strength in the truly inspired idea of the key exchange, which the hitman was supposed to hide under the stair guide of the building, after committing the crime. The king of suspense at his peak, a film to see absolutely if you love criminal stories.

PS. Two people are talking at a table, a very normal conversation, all of a sudden, boom, the explosion, a bomb had been placed under the table. The audience is astonished, bewildered, but there is no suspense. For suspense to exist, you have to see the assassin placing the bomb, you have to know that it will explode at one o'clock, and it is a quarter to one. This way, the same mundane conversation becomes interesting because the audience is engaged in the scene. This is what the director said in an interview with François Truffaut, to explain what he meant by suspense.