Notorious

Intelligent movie with a good agent story and interesting characters, where everyone is having a mask. Also the chemistry between Grant and Bergman is working. Hitchcock quality.

Hitchcock teams with Ingrid Bergman and screenwriter Ben Hecht for the second time in as many years, following their Oscar-nominated collaboration in Spellbound. Bergman plays an emotional wreck in Notorious, on the rocks after her father is convicted of a war crime and swallows a dose of cyanide in prison. In the midst of a bender, she’s snared by a cocky government agent (Cary Grant), who whisks her off to Rio and promises rich rewards in exchange for a touch of undefined espionage work. Once in Brazil, things get messy as the G-Man falls in love with her and the details of her new gig are made clear: reconnect and flirt with an ex-suitor (Claude Rains) to learn the details of his **** smuggling scheme. Grant and Bergman are meant to be tragic lovers here, government-backed co-conspirators who are driven apart by circumstance just as they discover the flicker of mutual enchantment. Instead, they act more like catty teens with a grudge. Her seductive performance needs to be convincing to effectively reel in their target, but Grant sees betrayal with every fluttered lash and his jealousy also brings out the worst in her. They orbit, collide and recoil constantly, bickering through most of their status checks (maybe he wasn’t such a great choice as handler) and often threatening to blow their own cover. As a civilian, she can’t be reasonably expected to maintain her composure amidst so much drama, but he’s an experienced agent and should already know the score. Fortunately, their quarry is too lovestruck to see through the ruse, or at least to pay much mind until he’s already in too deep. I found that quandary, a manipulation victim’s desperation to extricate himself without exposing the goof to his superiors, far more interesting than the petty squabbles of the leading duo. Sir Alfred does a great job of ratcheting the tension beyond the point of comfort (his specialty), the cinematography is customarily magnificent and the screenplay features twists upon twists upon twists, but those central amateur acts (and I don't mean the actors' performances) threaten everything. For a bunch of alleged international masterminds, nobody involved seems especially good at keeping a secret or reading a tell. Love stories were hardly a **** forte at this point, either, so it’s no great surprise that the leads’ romantic sparks are so forced and superficial. Hitch must’ve figured we’d accept an uncomfortably long make-out session - famously long, in fact - in lieu of chemistry, because we see little reason for these two to feel so attached beyond the swapped spit. It’s a compelling drama all the same, with an appropriately ruthless climax, but one that’s hamstrung by its dedication to the wrong kinds of intrigue.

O pioneirismo da abordagem em filmes de espionagem e a câmera sempre esperta do mestre salvam o filme, com uma história pra lá de sem sal e um roteiro sobre Urânio bem tosco, em certo momomento parece aqueles episódios do Scooby-Doo ( a cena onde os protagonistas espiões se beijam pra disfarçar, gera muita vergonha alheia, e o vilão é bem caidinho). Considerando a época, muito bem feito, contudo.

This film fell short for me. Lauded as a masterful thriller it plays like a scattered and rushed love story. The characters are bare,the dialogue disengaging with the cinematography being rather forgetful. Furthermore the whole film felt really long ,I was incredibly bored and found no investment in the story. I found the performances quite flat but did appreciate the endings dark ambiguity.

As a discerning viewer, I have found myself utterly appalled by the shameless attempt at manipulation presented in this film" This film, purportedly a tale of espionage and intrigue, is nothing more than a thinly veiled piece of propaganda engineered by... Well, you already know who.