Under Capricorn (1949)

Alfred Hitchcock's Under Capricorn is a period piece set in Australia in 1831. The film is also the second Hitchcock film (after Rope) to be filmed in color. In addition to being Hitchcock's only period piece, this film is an atypical Hitchcock film in that it isn't a thriller at all. The film tells the story of a man (Michael Wilding) who arrives in Australia and meets someone (Joseph Cotten), an ex-convict. The ex-convict's wife (Ingrid Bergman) knows the other man's sister in Ireland and a love triangle soon develops. To make matters more confusing, the ex-convict's maid soon falls in love with her boss and tries to turn his wife into an alcoholic. The plot is rather dull and seemingly complicated although most of the confusion is probably a result of a rather boring film. Amazingly, the ending of this film is absolutely amazing. It took 100 minutes, but when the suspense finally sets in, the film is great.

As mentioned a moment ago, this film stars Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten and some others. It took them a while to get going, but Cotten, and especially Bergman, are quite excellent in this film.

This film is also notable for having several very long takes. Being released immediately after Rope, it seems that Hitchcock was rather fond of the long takes at this point in his career. While the film isn't what seems like one take as in Rope, these occasional long takes are still rather noteworthy.

Being a period piece, the costumes and stylistic aspects are worth mentioning. The costumes are nothing all that fancy but they do seem to work. The scenes in this film often take place at night and are lit by candlelight. Unlike Kubrick's film Barry Lyndon, this film is lit with artificial lighting so the candlelight scenes are far less aesthetically pleasing.

Overall, this isn't really all that spectacular a film. It's one of the worst American Hitchcock films I have seen. It has a few redeeming qualities and Cotten or Bergman fans might find it reasonably enjoyable, just don't expect a typical Hitchcock experience.

60/100
D-

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