Hitchcock/Truffaut -- Film Review
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Directed
by Kent Jones
This is a film for film buffs, people who stay up till two
or three in the morning watching old movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, people
in the movie industry, students in film schools. It's an insiders' look at Alfred Hitchcock
and his films. It's an honorific
presentation of Alfred the Great, seen through the eyes of fellow directors
such as Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Peter Bogdanovich, David Fincher,
Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Richard Linklater, Olivier Assayas, Arnaud Desplechin, Paul
Shrader, and James Gray. It is very
informative about filmmaking and about conceptualizing a film from the point of
view of a director, how a film or a scene is shot, one's style as a filmmaker,
the techniques of creating suspense, or visual interest, or psychological
impact on a viewer. It is amply
illustrated with clips from Hitchcock's many films. It is not about Alfred Hitchcock as a
person. It does mention that he had a
close relationship with his wife and that he consulted with her on every film
that he made. But it is not about who he
was, the personal meaning his films might have had for him, his relations with
actors, movie studios, etc. It was
strictly about the films and about making the films. It is based on an book published by Franาซois
Truffaut in 1967, which he later revised and expanded in 1985. The book is a series of extended interviews
that Truffaut did with Hitchcock that were an in depth exploration of his films
and his techniques as a filmmaker. The
book is a classic for filmmakers and students of film.
This film wasn't exactly what I wanted to see. I have seen a fair number of Hitchcock's
films, but not all of them, and there were some discussed in the film that I
had never heard of. I am not a great fan
of old movies and I am not interested in filmmaking. I am a still photographer and a portrait
photographer and there were some very interesting passages in the film that
discussed how to frame and light a face to get a certain effect. There was a series of portraits of Truffaut
and Hitchcock taken during the interviewing process by photographer Philippe
Halsman. These were discussed including
Hitchcock's input on the posing for some of them. I found that very interesting. I was hoping for a more personal and
psychological portrait of Hitchcock, but this was not the approach or intent of
this film at all. It was all about the
work and about technique. It was well
made and well put together. If you are a
student of film, or number film among your passions, then you should not miss
this.