Hitchcockian

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Hitchcockian is a authorial descriptive used to describe film styles and themes similar to those of Alfred Hitchcock's films.

Characteristics

Elements considered Hitchcockian include:

The cool platinum blonde (often a central figure of Hitchcock's films).
The presence of a domineering mother in her child's life (e.g. Psycho).
An innocent man accused (again used in many of Hitchcock's films).
Restricting the action to a single setting to increase tension (e.g. Lifeboat, Rear Window, Rope).
Characters who switch sides or who cannot be trusted.
Tension building through suspense to the point where the audience enjoys seeing the character in a life-threatening situation, such as the windmill scene from Foreign Correspondent.
Average people thrust into strange or dangerous situations, such as in North by Northwest or The Man Who Knew Too Much.
Bumbling or incompetent authority figures, particularly police officers.
Use of darkness to symbolise impending doom (dark clothing, shadows, smoke, etc.)
Strong visual use of famous landmarks (Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore, Forth Rail Bridge, Golden Gate Bridge, Albert Hall, British Museum, Piccadilly Circus, etc.)
Mistaken identity, such as in North by Northwest and The Wrong Man.
The use of a staircase as a motif for impending danger or suspense.
Use of a macguffin or plot device that remains unexplained, such as the microfilm in North by Northwest.

Some films or scenes considered Hitchockian, aside from Hitchcock's own films, include: