Hitchcock (2013, Sacha Gervasi)

Hello film fans,

This time I’ve decided to bring you my views on British film Hitchcock. Well actually, I didn’t decide it; I didn’t have a lot of choice. I was supposed to bring you a review of Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, but despite the sign at the cinema saying the seats for that particular screening were limited, when I got to the counter I found out that this actually means no seats at all (please sort that out Odeon). Anyway, set in 1959, Hitchcock looks at the making of one of cinema’s biggest films, Psycho. Aside from that, it also draws attention to the woman behind the great director; Hitchcock’s wife, Alma (a strong performance from Helen Mirren). It’s been suggested on numerous occasions that Hitchcock had an eye for his leading ladies, so I thought the film would be interesting for showing Alma’s side of the story, whilst also concentrating on the problems Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) encountered during the making of Psycho - both as a person and as a director.

Some elements of the film that I enjoyed? Firstly, I thought that Hopkins made quite a good Hitchcock. He has this kind of domineering presence on screen that really suited the part. Oh, and when the Hitchcock dogs, Jeffrey and Stanley, are referred to as “sirs” made me chuckle. But what did I notice critically? In particular, when Hitch (that’s what everyone refers to him as) is demonstrating how Janet Leigh’s character (Scarlett Johansson) should be stabbed in the famous Psycho shower scene. Here, it gets a little eerie – because the shots are intertwined with him stabbing other people, most notably Alma. This is obviously shown to imply his frustration and anger at Alma’s growing friendship with screenwriter Whitfield, and I felt it was a clever way of presenting this.

Anything to improve on? Yes. Hitch is shown to have a distant, almost cold relationship with Vera Miles (Jessica Biel), and although the audience gains some knowledge on why this is, it could have been built upon – a flashback of some kind perhaps, might’ve helped. But the question is: was it any good? Yes, I did enjoy this film – sure, some parts could have been better, but it was interesting to focus more on Hitch’s wife Alma and, to an extent, give her the credit that she deserved. And I did like the costumes.

Rating: 3 stars – yes, it should be watched!

 

Georgie