1. BELL TOWER – SCENE ANALYSIS
• The necklace Judy is wearing represents a closing noose around her neck.
Her time was running out and symbolizes her guilt. “What did he give you!” –
[Scotty] “some money and the necklace” – [Judy]. By Judy admitting her guilt
it highlights her masochistic side because she is encouraging Scotty to be
more masculine and punish her reinforcing his active nature at this point in
the film. This if further explored by the sudden appearance of the nun who
symbolizes the ultimate form of guilt and redemption through punishment.
• “I made it… I made it” – [Scotty] is Scotty’s climatic resolution; he has
overcome his weakness, thus regaining his masculinity for a brief second.
The musical score emphasizes this by the shrilling of the violin going up
octave and then crashing back down when he achieves his goal. The close-up
on his features displays a contortion of an ecstatic nature; this is further
emphasized by the high key light and black background; which shows the
sweat on his body.
• Scotty does not regard Judy as a real person, she is just an object (Mulvey’s
theory)“It’s too late, there’s no bringing her back”. He always uses the third
person pronoun when referring to Madeline, even thou at this point in the
film narrative he knows that she was a creation by “Elster” and Judy.
• The Hitchcock zoom is a recurring motif that emphasizes Scotty’s weakness
still in act and that he is in the process of overcoming it. It also represents the
cyclical nature of the narrative where his weakness prevented him from
being masculine.
• The figure movement during the close-up of the last kiss reveals they both
have to succumb to their masochistic and sadistic nature. This is shown
through their expression, which isn’t as intimate as we have seen in previous
scenes.
• In this scene, they have their third and final kiss, which could represent the
holy trinity and how the three entities are complete. This could be connoted
as the nun then enters the scene, which follows Hitchcock’s religious
background from when he was young, showing that he also adds personal
touches to the movie to make it his own reality.
• Once the demystification of the woman is complete, she must pay for her sins
by being punished. In Judy’s case it is death, which connotes this. Hitchcock’s
hidden agenda is reflected by Judy’s costume which connotes that she may be
in mourning and perhaps to foreshadow her own demise.
• In conclusion there is a variety of cinematic techniques to signify,
foreshadow and represent different themes such as guilt, punishment and

2. the loss of the castration of the protagonist who has finally gained his
masculinity.