When a director can be used as an adjective to describe another film not made by him, it is symptom of a perfectly determined style which, on the other hand, is impossible to imitate 100%. For this reason, that adjective can sometimes be used as a throwing weapon, to try to highlight the impossibility of separating or surpassing the teacher.
An example would be the Hitchcockian, which we know implies intrigue, suspense and tension, but does not always have that playful or spicy spark that used to be present in his films. The key is, as always, play with the keys but try to avoid imitation with suggestive and own details. Someone who got it pretty well was Stanley Donen when he went to play that game by doing ‘Charade‘.
Expect the unexpected
This sixties suspense and spy classic, available to watch on Amazon Prime Video as well as on platforms such as Filmin, MUBI or Movistar+, separates itself from the formidable musicals that characterize Donen, although doesn’t stray too far from its aesthetic and tonal cues. To bring them to fruition, he got together again with a connoisseur of Hitchcockian methods like Cary Grant and met another old acquaintance like Audrey Hepburn.
Hepburn takes the reins of the story a little more, as it is the perspective of her character that introduces us to it. She plays Reggie Lampert, who is quietly on vacation at a ski resort while she contemplates divorcing her husband. Over there meet an interesting hunk named Peter Joshua, played by Cary Grant, who catches his eye. It won’t be the last time he sees it.
Upon her return to Paris, she discovers that her husband has been murdered and her house ransacked. And what is worse, she discovers that she has led a double life, being part of a skirmish that has robbed the United States government of a quarter of a million dollars. A tremendous conspiracy of which Lampert must escape without knowing very well who to trustespecially when the aforementioned Joshua comes into play supposedly to help her.
‘Charades’: Tangles and Spies
The key to ‘Charada’ is that it has all the appearance and spirit of an espionage and suspense film, but its operation is not so far from the romantic comedy or the entanglements. It helps, of course, the impressive chemistry that Grant and Hepburn have to sell the romantic part, which gives the spark so that the Hitchockian exercise is not merely superficial.
Its dynamic is especially fun, since Hepburn has to play a character in a situation similar to that of Cary Grant in ‘With death at her heels’ (yes, by Hitchcock). tape is a delicious piece full of twists, fast-paced intrigue, well-measured romance. Classic fun in an adult entertainment gem that never stops working.
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