A large theme in Hitchcock’s “Rope” is the idea of concealment and reveal, all of which is done deliberately; because the entire film is set in one location, the lighting plays a significant role in helping to differentiate what is hidden and what is visible. The opening scene of “Rope” is a wide, picturesque image of color, daylight, children, and sun. Just after the camera cuts into the apartment, however, the audience witnesses a heinous murder in an environment that serves as a stark contrast. It is a dark, tight, painful shot of the very end of someone’s life. Though the film has no shortage of morbidity, it is always kept entirely within the apartment. This separation forces all things happy and bright to exist outside the apartment, making that what is visible to the passing eye. The lethal happenings inside are hidden in the shadows away from any random onlookers. The audience of the film is the select group Hitchcock allows to witness the despicable nature of what happens inside. As he makes an effort to demonstrate in other moments of the film, he is always in control. The characters can try to hide their actions, but Hitchcock makes the ultimate decision of who sees what with a conscious separation of what happens in a world of light and one of the dark.

As the film approaches the climactic moment where Rupert will open the casket, it also nears the darkness of night. The only two times the casket is opened are either in forced darkness or the inherent lack of light that comes with the evening. When it is light outside during the party, Brandon and Phillip’s secret remains just that: a secret. It is not until the light is gone that the truth comes to light. Hitchcock cannot condemn the showing of evil and murder, as that is exactly what he makes his movies about, but he can make choices that demonstrate how he feels about it. His concealment of the killing marks it as something to be kept in the shadows and very selectively shown to outside audiences in this cinematic world. While he easily contrasts that by publishing it out to the entire world, he does not do so without hiding his true, real-life beliefs in the details of the film.