Review of Strangers on a Train (1951) by Jake C — 26 Apr 2018
Ravishingly brilliant and luringly unheimlich, this ranks among Hitch's finest. A thrilling exploration of doubles, of darkness, of madness and-what else is madness but?-unspeakable passion. The carnivalesque, grotesque plot revolves around (like the merry-go-round at the end) two figures, one disturbingly assertive, the other dangerously passive, whose souls bleed into each other, their psyches feeding off each other.
It is impossible to say where one begins and one ends (like Guy's two women: He begins an affair with one before his divorce with the other has been finalized-that other likewise already carrying the child of another: Bodies and selves bleed, though the preferred method here is bloodless strangulation).
Bruno and Guy, so different to each other, ultimately need each other like black needs white and dark needs light-a strange and strangling dialectic, indeed.
This review of Strangers on a Train (1951) was written by Jake C on 26 Apr 2018.
Strangers on a Train has generally received very positive reviews.
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