Rope - Alfred Hitchcock - 1948

This film was an adaptation of a play based on the infamous Leopold and Loeb murder of the 1920s.

Leopold and Loeb were very wealthy and academically successful young men who were influenced by the philosophy of Nietzsche. Indeed, they believed that they were Nietzchean 'supermen' who could rise above the law and accountability to others.

To demonstrate this to themselves they decided to kidnap and murder a 12 year old boy for no reason and to collect a ransom for this kidnapping that they did not need even though the boy was dead.

Once inside the apartment where the story of this film takes place, Hitchcock only uses one camera. When you see him do a close up into the back of a guy's jacket, he is basically changing the film in the camera.

In the play there are many differences to the story, but there is a murder committed purely so that young men can relish what they feel is their superiority to others. They want to feel as if they can rise above what restricts others from engaging in the 'taboo'.

Here is a documentary on Leopold and Loeb: