Viewing Journal 5: Strangers on a Train

For this journal, you will consider the editing, plot, and themes of Strangers on a Train.  In two to three typed pages, you should address one of the following questions, developing your response with specific details from the film.  I will collect this journal, along with the journals for Shadow of a Doubt and Notorious, on Wednesday, February 2.

1) Strangers on a Train makes extensive use of cross-cutting, most notably in the scene of Guy playing the tennis match as Bruno returns to the amusement park.  What is the effect of cross cutting in this scene?  Why do the shots come in the order they do?  How does the cross cutting in this scene forward the plot?

2) Match cuts frequently serve as transitions between scenes in Strangers on a Train (for example, Bruno looks at his watch after murdering Miriam and the camera cuts to Guy looking at his watch).  What parallels does this editing strategy draw between the two men and their actions?

3) Strangers on a Train culminates in Bruno and Guy's fight on a quickly spinning merry-go-round.  How does the editing of the scene work to bring the plot to a climax and highlight the film's themes?

4) Strangers on a Train engages issues of taboo sexuality (Miriam's adultery, the suggestion of Guy's bigamy, Bruno's homosexuality and an incestuous relationship between Bruno and his mother).  How do suggestions of taboo sexuality function in the film?

5) References to doubles or pairs recur throughout Strangers on a Train (Bruno orders a pair of double drinks on the train, Guy's lighter sports an image of two crossed racquets, Barbara resembles Miriam, the film has two scenes in the amusement park).  How do these "twos" function in the film?

6) Several elements of Strangers on a Train recall Shadow of a Doubt (Bruno's charming and deadly personality, discussions of murder methods, Barbara's comment on wanting a man who would kill for love of her, the theme of knowledge as guilt).  Compare Strangers on a Train and Shadow of a Doubt, focusing on how similar characters, actions and themes function in both films.

7) Throughout the quarter, we have discussed Hitchcock's critique of governments and nationalism. Strangers on a Train features the Senator, who is a politician, and Guy, who wants to become a politician.  Part of the film's action takes place in Washington, D.C.  Do the setting and references to national politics and politicians contribute to a critique of government?  If so, how?