Rebecca

Rebecca, 1940
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Nominated for 11 Oscars, Won 2
Wins Include: Best Picture, Best Cinematography

Rebecca tells the story of a young woman who has a whirlwind romance with an older, widowed, rich man she meets while in Monte Carlo, as a companion for her obnoxious employer. They quickly fall in love and get married very quickly. The rich man, Maxim de Winter, takes his new bride to his mansion in Cornwall, called Manderley. While there, she realizes there is a lot more behind Mr de Winter's first wife's death than she had realizes and is constantly haunted by the thought of her, while everyone in Manderley still seems to be obsessed with the first wife, Rebecca.

Being this is a Hitchcock movie, and him being known to make "scary movies", I literally thought the new Mrs de Winter would literally be haunted by Rebecca and came out disappointed. While the movie threw twists and turns that I didn't quite expect, it still wasn't exactly the movie I thought it would be. And wasn't altogether overly interesting.

Mrs de Winter always seems to be doing something wrong in the eyes of everybody. Though often times she is set up. She doesn't come from money and servants so is therefore not used to the life at Manderley. But is constantly reminded of how beautiful and fabulous and lovely Maxim's first wife Rebecca is. I don't blame Mrs de Winter. This would drive me crazy too, but would also make me curious in Rebecca.

And while the end of the film did bring out some twists to the story of Rebecca's death that I didn't expect, I was a little disappointed with the rest of the movie just being about Mrs de Winter constantly not being "good enough" and not being "like Rebecca". There were no ghosts (which I expected, or at least I expected nightmares/dreams that Mrs de Winter has about Rebecca and is therefore "haunted").

Though this movie was well made. The costumes, the sets, the acting. Hitchcock does make fine movies and this was a well-made one for sure, even if it was quite slow and not overly exciting.

The creepiness of Mrs Danvers, the housekeeper, is definitely the best part of the film. She is incredibly creepy and cynical. Always seeming to be plotting something in regards to Mrs de Winter.

But overall, this film was pretty sub par to me. It wasn't a bad movie, but there have definitely been lots of better winners. It was a well-made if a slightly slow film.

Acting- 8/10 
Directing- 8/10 
Screenplay- 7/10 
Visuals- 7.5/10 
Music- 7/10 Emotional Connection- 6.5/10 
Entertainment- 6.5/10 
Rewatchability- 6/10 
Overall Enjoyment- 7/10 
Overall Package- 7/10     

Total: 70.5/100