Rebecca (1940) – A Cup of Bergslagen’s Coffee with a Dark Secret

Oh, mate, talking about Hitchcock’s Rebecca is like biting into a kanelbulle that’s gone mouldy at the bottom. Looks inviting, then suddenly… bam, the taste is different. This film, with Laurence Olivier (Maxim de Winter, still looking like he’s constantly smelling something funny), and Joan Fontaine as the “second Mrs de Winter” – what a duo! And let’s not forget Judith Anderson as Mrs Danvers – the scariest housekeeper you’ll ever meet. If she ran the ICA, I’d leave town.

And Hitchcock himself, the old British fox, turns Daphne du Maurier’s classic into something that kind of creeps under the skin. You can almost smell the English coast and those draughty corridors at Manderley. Back in 1999, I actually watched it at a VHS night in a little student flat near Gärdet, with rain hammering outside and everyone fighting for the best spot on an orange corduroy sofa. Was it the film or the thunder that made the hairs on my arms stand up? Hard to say, honestly.

I love the way Hitchcock lets you feel the weight of never being “enough.” All those looks from Mrs Danvers, like when your mate’s mum judges your muddy shoes in the hallway – pure Swedish shame, that is. But sometimes, Rebecca feels a bit long-winded. There’s moments where you’re just waiting for someone, anyone, to spill coffee on that stiff British tablecloth, just to break the tension.

Still, wow, David O. Selznick produced this right after Gone with the Wind, so the whole thing feels loaded with Hollywood ambition and maybe a sprinkle of unnecessary gloss. But mate, those shadows! The wind! The tension! Like walking home from a night out in Växjö – you know you’re not alone, even if you can’t see a soul.

It’s a film for anyone who’s ever felt they’re living in someone else’s house – or head. Pour yourself some Gevalia and brace for goosebumps. Or, maybe not total goosebumps, but at least a chilly shiver or two.

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