The Thinking Machine 21

Film lovers are often in danger of reducing the achievement of Alfred Hitchcock to a series of vivid, thrilling action scenes, whether set in bathrooms, at fairgrounds, around gas stations, or on cliff faces. Notorious (1946) has its big, classic moments, but its total texture is woven from a thousand smaller movements, exchanges and perceptions. And this is especially true in relation to how Hitchcock renders space and place – in a complex, mobile architecture that is wholly cinematic. Enter the Sebastian household with Ingrid Bergman to see how space is shaped and reshaped for the sake of plot, emotion and theme.