North by Northwest

The most American, the most colourful, the longest, the most adventurous and in every way the most magnificent depiction of a falsely accused man on the run, a subject close to Hitchcock’s heart. Cary Grant is the most likable actor of his era, Eva Marie Saint is a beautiful and delicate professional, and everything is fantastically filmed and edited. The beautiful formalistic aspect is aided by the Oscar-winning production design, which plays the same role here as it did in Psycho and Vertigo, which is really saying something, given the adventure genre. In short, North by Northwest is a flawless film. (11/29/2004)

The best Hitchcock I’ve seen so far! It only took ten minutes for me to be overcome by that feeling I get whenever I’m watching something exceptional, the joy that after so many films I can still come across one capable of thrilling me like a child. North by Northwest did that from the get go, and I followed the events on the screen almost without breathing until the end. 100% (08/10/2009)

A brilliant thriller with the protagonist’s wonderfully elaborated paranoia, the logic of a conspiracy thriller worked out to the last detail, and last but not least, a nice dose of black-humored trivialization, through which Hitchcock ironically winks at the viewer every now and then. It’s formally impeccable (the cinematography belongs in textbooks!), the acting is spot on (Cary Grant delivering cool lines with icy calm and Eva Marie Saint as the femme fatale is absolutely amazing), and on top of that, the tension builds up to the fabulous ending on Mount Rushmore. A flawless film that reflects the image of one thing only - pure genius! (10/29/2006)

Hitchcock as usual perfectly constructs the atmosphere, but nevertheless I was disappointed this time. In the introduction, Roger's paranoia fulfills all expectations (and Fincher was truly inspired by The Game), but the premature climax comes in the cult scene with the crop-dusting plane. Afterwards, it rather just weaves and weaves, only to finally reach a traditionally suspenseful finale. However, after two hours of intrigue, it does not resonate urgently enough. (08/06/2006)

All of Alfred Hitchcock's films, including his most famous ones, naturally need to be judged in the context of the era in which they were made, because the ravages of time have logically left their mark on them. Nevertheless, in my opinion, many of them are a cinematic treat and contemporary filmmakers rarely come close to matching their quality. His films are usually a safe bet for me. Therefore, I was even more disappointed with this particular one because, in my eyes, it just didn't work at all and I had a hard time even finishing it. The incredibly naive and predictable script is to blame, and it is as if it had been written 20 years earlier. The direction is still reliable and the cast is stellar, but that doesn't change the fact that in the scenes that were supposed to be suspenseful, I could barely hold back laughter. Hitchcock certainly didn't intend to write a parody, just a slightly lighter thriller. He ended up making more of those later on. Overall impression: 40%. (03/11/2011)

You don’t often see such an elaborate and still entertaining film, in which there is suspense, humor, romance, action and who know what else, without it getting in the way. Hitchcock doesn't wait for anything, he gets things right at the beginning and, with the help of the actors and Herrmann's predatory music, does whatever he wants with us for more than two hours. And we don't mind one bit. (04/29/2016)

Some of the scenes almost radiate naivety, the script twists logic beyond recognition, and the technical execution of certain shots looks ridiculous from today’s perspective. On the other hand, even today, the film is still entertaining and witty, Cary Grant is brilliant as the unfortunate Roger Tornhill and the whole film is extremely watchable. (08/13/2019)