In Spite of So Many Constraints, Hitchcock Crafts A Highly Effective Thriller.

Rating: Null/10 (5 October 2013)

Shot entirely on a single location, Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat is his first film to employ the minimal settings environment which he used to greater effect in his later career & despite the many constraints of framing so many characters within such limited space, this master director triumphs in creating an effective thriller that even today remains one of his most underrated works.
With its entire plot unfolding on a lifeboat during World War II, Lifeboat concerns a group of survivors left stranded on a lifeboat after their ship & a German U-boat sunk each other in combat. Trouble starts brewing when they pull a man from the water who turns out to be from the U-boat. And so begins the clash of opinions between the rest of boat members as they discuss about what to do with him.
The direction by Hitchcock is brilliant for the manner in which he's able to assign the required screen time to each member on the boat & handles the suspense element beautifully from start to finish. The scripted characters have a complex & morally ambiguous dimension which adds a sense of unpredictability to the entire plot. The camera-work is a gem considering the limited options it had & yet each moment feels crisply captured.
The performances by the cast is no slouch either & everyone portrayed their descending arcs rather well. Also, the music is virtually absent from the entire film but thanks to its cleverly structured narration, there never felt the need for any. On an overall scale, Lifeboat may not be amongst Hitchcock's famous works but it sure was a stepping stone towards his experiments with film narration which he went on to explore remarkably well in his future films.