Member review

With a plethora of Classic Hollywood stars including Carrie Grant and Ingrid Bergman and Alfred Hitchcock in the director's chair, it's a wonder this film doesn't resonate with a 21st century viewer. Notorious succeeds in giving the viewer an enlightening experience into how the censorship of the time restricted films which have such potential. Due to the strict rules studios had to abide by this effects the overall spark, or lack of, between the male and female leads. For a Hitchcock film, Notorious is extremely lacking in overall suspense and drama. The ending feels extremely rushed and abrupt, along with the plot lacking any originality at all. It could be argued that this is because modern films have followed this blueprint.

The performances by the Bergman, Grant and Rains are as expected for a 1946 film. Lacking. With a script as two dimensional as that though, who can blame them? Bergman's character is extremely out-dated and represents everything wrong with female stereotypes whilst Grant's Devlin does exactly the same thing for male stereotypes. It does nothing to aid male and female representations in film.

On the whole, the film would have been exceptional for its time. However, as a viewer in 2017 it is hard to digest the tone and representation of groups of people in the 1940's. However, the long shots of Devlin and Alicia do provide the actors with scope to develop their character's personality and allow some tension to build.