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Born in August 1899 above the family’s high-street shop in the London suburb of Leytonstone, Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was the youngest of the three children of Emma and William Hitchcock.
Biographer: The father seems to have been in certain respects a fairly strict 1)disciplinarian, but his mother seems to have been the tougher of…of the two parents. He…he remained in 2)awe of her throughout her life.
Pat Hitchcock (Daughter): My grandmother, my father’s mother, Emma, was a wonderful character, I mean, absolutely! She was very forceful. You can imagine a…a young person would be scared of her, you know, her son, because she, you know, she made them 3)toe the line.
Alexander Walker (Film Critic): Once I said to him, “In your films, mothers have a very bad time, or mother figures have, haven’t they? Does this tie up with anything in your own childhood?” And do you know, the old man’s eyes – he was then in his sixties – began almost to water. Whether with 4)malevolence, or with grief, or sadness, I don’t know, but he didn’t welcome the question.
1899年8月,阿尔弗雷德·约瑟夫·希区柯克在伦敦市郊的莱顿斯顿出生,是埃玛和威廉·希区柯克夫妇三个小孩中的幺子。他们家在大街上开了一间小店。
传记作家:从某些方面来说,他的父亲家规很严,但在双亲中……他的母亲似乎更为严厉。他……在她的有生之年,他对母亲一直敬畏有加。
帕特·希区柯克(女儿):我的祖母——也就是我父亲的母亲埃玛真是令人吃惊,我是说,她太厉害了!她非常坚强。你可以想象一个……年轻人会很怕她,你知道,例如她的儿子,因为她让他们令行禁止。
亚历山大·沃克(影评人):有一次,我对他说:“在你的电影里,母亲——或者说是母亲式角色总是境遇不佳,对吧?这与你的童年经历有关吗?”你知道吗,那位老人的双眼——他那时已经六十多岁了——几乎要溢出泪水来。我也不知道这是出于怨恨、悲痛,或是忧伤,但他并不想回答这个问题。
A Childhood Incident
But perhaps the biggest influence on the future filmmaker was an incident that became an essential part of the Hitchcock legend.
Hitchcock: At a very tender age, I was frightened by a policeman. I don’t remember now what it was I’d done, but my father sent me along to the police station with a note. He locked me in a cell for five minutes and finally said, “That’s what we do to naughty boys.”
Walker: I do believe that story. Hitchcock frequently told it – told it until we were sick of hearing it. But I do think that it is exactly the explanation of many of the fears in his films. The fear not necessarily of being physically locked up, but the fear suddenly of finding yourself in a situation you can’t control.
Reporter: What are you afraid of, Mr. Hitchcock?
Hitchcock: Oh, I’m afraid of policemen, the wrong side of the law, trouble, authority 5)descending upon me, putting its heavy hand on my shoulder and making my stomach turn over with fear.
童年阴影
然而也许对这位未来的电影制作人影响最大的不过是一件小事,此事后来成了希区柯克传奇的重要部分。
希区柯克:小时候,我曾被一名警察吓倒。现在我也记不起那时自己干了什么坏事,但父亲打发我带着一张字条去警察局。那个警察把我关进一个小囚室,足足关了五分钟,然后说:“我们就是这样对付淘气鬼的。”
沃克:我相信这是真事。希区柯克经常说起这件事——说到我们都听厌了。但我认为这恰好解释了其电影中许多恐惧感的来由。恐惧感不一定源自实质性的监禁,而是突然发现你陷入了自己无法控制的处境。
记者:你害怕什么东西呢,希区柯克先生?
希区柯克:噢,我怕警察,怕法律不公,怕麻烦,怕当权者搞突然袭击——权威的巨掌压在我的肩上,那种恐惧感让我倒胃。
Lessons of Different Cinemas
In 1925 he received the education of a lifetime, when he was sent to work on an 6)Anglo-
German co-production at the UFA Studios in Berlin.
UFA, the world’s largest studio, was the home of German expressionist cinema. Watching the likes of Murnau and Lang注 at work, Hitchcock learned much about the power of the director.
And there were other lessons, too.
Film Historian: He learned so much about the use of shadow, the use of camera angles that were 7)unconventional, off-centre framing, shots from above, shots from below… Those kind[s] of things were 8)part and parcel of the style of German expressionism, and I think Hitchcock adapted those very neatly into his cinematic grammar.
German expressionism may have 9)exerted a stylistic influence on Hitchcock, but the lessons of
Soviet cinema went deeper. Soviet filmmakers showed Hitchcock that meaning in a film could be 10)conveyed by the 11)dynamic 12)juxtaposition of images – a technique known as “montage.” In a montage sequence, acting becomes a matter of stylized gestures and expressions, which become significant only when placed alongside other images. It was a principle that Hitchcock would apply throughout his career to the 13)dismay of many of his actors.
Hitchcock: The 14)medium of pure cinema is what I believe in. The…the 15)assembly of pieces of film to create 16)fright is the essential part of my job.
博采众长
1925年,希区柯克被派往德国柏林的乌发公司(UFA)为一部英德合拍片工作,当时学到的东西让他受益终生。乌发是当时全世界最大的电影公司,也是德国表现主义电影的发源地。希区柯克观摩着茂瑙和朗格等人的工作,对导演的力量有了进一步了解。
他还学到很多东西。
电影史学家:他学到了许多东西,例如如何利用阴影、各种摄像角度的非传统用法、偏离中心的取景法、俯拍与仰拍……这些元素都是德国表现主义的重要组成部分。我认为希区柯克后来将这些手法恰到好处地运用到自己的电影语言之中。
德国表现主义也许影响了希区柯克的电影风格,但前苏联电影对其产生了更大影响。希区柯克在前苏联的电影制作人身上学到如何通过动态的并列影像表达电影的内涵——这种技术被称为“蒙太奇”。在一个蒙太奇片段中,表演成了程式化的动作和表情,仅仅在与其他影像放在一起时才有意义。希区柯克的整个事业生涯由始至终都离不开这一拍摄原则,让他的许多演员沮丧无措。
希区柯克:我坚信纯粹的电影手法(能起到)媒介作用。我的工作核心就是……将电影各部分糅合起来,营造惊骇感。
