Review of Notorious (1946) by Filipeneto — 19 Mar 2021

I confess that I expected more from this film. It's good, but it didn't surprise or impress me like others from the same director. Alfred Hitchcock is not only one of the most outstanding film directors ever, he is also one of the most prolific, I think. And the truth is that some of his films are better, and others not so much. It depends on the tastes of each one. And this film, a good film, I repeat, did not seem that interesting or surprising to me.

The plot begins well, with a judicial sentence from a German spy, caught on American soil, but then focuses on his daughter, Alicia. And the fact is that I was never able to have any sympathy for the character, who seemed to me a spoiled, self-destructive and foolish girl. The last choice, in my opinion, for an international espionage operation. In any case, she is precisely the one chosen to infiltrate a group of Nazis living in Brazil, thus having the opportunity to clean up her honor. In the midst of all this, there is a romance between her and the agent who recruits her.

As I have already suggested, my biggest problem with this film was the little sympathy I felt for the main character. And that invariably leads me to speak of Ingrid Bergman... to say that she is not to blame for this. The character did not please me and this does not in any way call into question the impeccable work of the actress who, again, gives us an excellent dramatic work. In fact, one of the most interesting points of the film is the way she and Cary Grant act together. They work wonderfully and build good romantic chemistry, restrained but very elegant.

Director Hitchcock is the master of suspense. This film is by no means the most accurate example of the director's abilities, which has excelled in films such as "Rear Window" or "Psycho", but it does not disappoint fans. The espionage plot provides all the elements necessary for a good thriller. Cinematography is important in the work of the director, with a skillful and complex work of filming, an intelligent use of light and shadow, and an elegant and visually beautiful black-and-white, which has surely intentional similarities with aesthetics of cinema noir.