Charade Review
Who has the money? That is the main question that comes to mind while watching the masterfully created movie Charade. In fact, there were always many secrets to question during the movie and it was an incredibly engaging experience. Charade is a mystery, thriller, comedy, romance film produced in 1963 by Universal Pictures. It has a wonderful cast including several stars of the time period, but it really stands out in one aspect of filmmaking; suspense. Often described as the best Hitchcock movie that Hitchcock never made, Charade has successfully created a film filled with suspenseful adventure that has been a favorite of all audiences for half a century. All the essential elements or characteristics of suspense are done beautifully, creating anticipation and questions for the viewers to ponder while all the while on the edge of their seat. According to The Plot Thickens by Noah Lukeman, there are twelve definitive ways to build on and create suspense, despite it seeming like a “ mysterious, magical element.” Charade is an unbelievable work of art, expertly raising the stakes, creating danger, utilizing sexual tension, and applying dramatic irony.
There are several necessary ways to build suspense, a very important one is raising the stakes. After an objective is created, the stakes have to be raised to increase the viewers fear and worry for the character. In Charade, the objective created is to find the quarter of a million dollars. The stakes are raised dramatically when three potential killers show up searching for the same thing along with another man, the most important character in the film, who went by many names but for the purpose of this review Peter Joshua will be used. Anyway the stakes are raised when they threaten to kill the main character Regina and use several strategies to get her to reveal the money she did not have. To add to it, two of the men end up dead along with Regina’s husband, whom was very secretive and...