All the ways there are to see according to the Master of Suspense.
The cinema of Alfred Hitchcock is one of curiosity, nearly all his films are motivated by it, whether internal to a character – a curiosity about themselves – or focused externally – a curiosity about others or events. His characters want to know some truth, they want to discover the reasons behind things, or some hidden insight into motivation.
The most basic way Hitchcock visually communicates this sense of curiosity in his characters is through their eyes, specifically in how they peer, leer, peep, peek or look when they think no one is watching. In the following extensive and thorough supercut from our old friend Jorge Luengo Ruiz, the surreptitious gazes of Hitchcock characters from across the director’s entire filmography have been assembled to showcase the wide variety of silent ways Hitch had at conveying curiosity. Whether looking over the tops of newspapers, into keyholes or makeshift peepholes, and whether intending help, harm, or just looking to assuage their curiosity, all these gazes in their way progress the plot and themes of their respective films in ways no dialogue ever could, and serve as one more fascinating element in the Master of Suspense’s bag of cinematic tricks.
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