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Mistaken Identity In Alfred Hitchcock's Film The Lodger

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When watching an Alfred Hitchcock film the viewer is left waiting for the climax of the film. In The Lodger (1926) the viewer is made to think a man is the Avenger. In the following essay you will see how a classic mistaken identity can be broken down in a few second scene broken down in shot for shot. When a crime takes place it is not uncommon for a town to not have a newspaper in hand reading about the crime. When an unlikely man happens upon an Inn we are taken on the journey of mistaken identity. When the scene opens up at 10:41 is when we first think the Lodger is the Avenger. It is dark and a shadow appears on a door zooming in on the number thirteen. What we know is that there is a man out killing women. You can see the fear in the old woman’s face as she opens the door. Right then Hitchcock does a great job of framing this man as The Avenger. What is it about this man that makes him seem to be the one called The Avenger? As the camera goes back and forth between him and the old woman each time the man coming in question of a room for rent, the man gets a more and more sketchy look on his face. The old woman appears to be friendly, despite being …show more content…

From the second we see the man in the doorway the viewer is then taken on a classic mistaken identity story line. When a crime takes place, and you see a person fitting the same description who is acting odd, you can’t help but wonder if this is the man. Then when other people in the scene are acting scared you know this has to be the man in question. True to an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and the classic story of mistaken identity will leave the view feeling very relieved. We are left wondering why we thought that way after the identity is revealed. But, don’t get down on yourself, the movie was meant to make you think the most sketchy acting person is not always the bad guy in

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