Archive for the ‘Film’ Category

Review: Hitchcock

Hitchcock

The story of Alfred Hitchcock must

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be more interesting than this. The genius behind some of the greatest moments in cinema history gets the standard biopic treatment in Hitchcock. The problem is that it not only fails to live up to the legacy of the man it is trying to capture but it also manages to make him look completely uninteresting.

With the occasional moment managing to hit the right note there is a very real possibility there is an interesting biopic in here somewhere. Certainly the famous shower scene from Psycho is recreated with much love and is the best moment this film has to offer. The film flirts with the idea of Hitchcock being voyeuristic and obsessive but backs off before it gets too controversial.

Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren shine in the central relationship between Hitchcock and Alma Reville. These two strong performances manage to bring the film back from the brink as the production of Psycho strains their marriage. The supporting cast however, fades into the background as if they are aware that the film is not really interested in them at all.

Ultimately there is not much that can rectify the major problem with the film, the fact that it falls flat at every turn. There are many question marks surrounding the authenticity of the film’s plot; the biggest of which must be if you’re going to invent the history of Hitchcock, why make it so boring?

2/5

Hitchcock is in UK cinemas now

My First Hitchcock: The Birds

The Birds

As a rule, I don’t like horror films – not because I scare especially easily but more due to the fact that I am both disgusted and bored by gore. However, I recently read about the relationship between director Alfred Hitchcock and star of The Birds and Marnie, Tippi Hedren, a model and actress discovered by Hitchcock in the early 1950s. Hitchcock’s reported unreciprocated obsession with Hedren effectively ruined her career: her contract with him preventing her from working for anyone else. Perhaps most shockingly of all, however, during five days of filming of the penultimate scenes of The Birds, Hedren was in fact pelted with live birds.

the birds hitchcock

This real life romantic obsession/revenge dynamic was fascinating to me. So, while I may claim not to appreciate the genre, I decided there was analysis to be had in The Birds: also known as My First Hitchcock. Of course, the film has been reviewed numerous times over the years, and there is simply one aspect I want to focus on: the female characters, specifically Melanie. I expected little from the female characters in this film: firstly because it was produced by a man in the early 1960s, but more specifically due to Hitchcock’s feelings regarding Hedren. I was thus pleasantly surprised to discover that, for the majority of the film, Melanie is in her own right a fantastic character. She is confident and strong, warmly charming those around her in order to

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achieve her goals. Her relationship with Annie (Suzanne Plechette) is something that I feel modern day film makers could learn a lot from.

the-birds-annie-and-melanie

(Suzanne Plechette and Tippi Hedren in ‘The Birds’)

Although there is brief animosity between the two invoked by their respective relationships with the male lead, Mitch (Rod Taylor), Melanie and Annie do not treat each other like bitter love rivals, instead respecting each other enough that they even become friends. Perhaps more realistic than the hair pulling cat fights seen frequently in more recent productions. Melanie is also taken seriously throughout the film. For example, when alerting locals in a café to the dangers posed by the gathering birds, she is not dismissed as simply an irrational woman – because she is not. My positive feelings about the film and its female characterisation lasted until the penultimate, bird-chucking scenes. While Mitch and his family sleep in the living room of their house that has been boarded up in order to prevent death-by-beak, Melanie decides it would be a great time to carry out a little exploration upstairs. Naturally, this is when all feathery hell breaks loose. As she slowly climbed the stairs, I felt myself screaming at the screen. Why would a character who has otherwise been so rational and intelligent decide to make this move? Curiosity? Hysteria? Rebellion? It’s fair to say that Melanie’s reputation of rebelliousness precedes her at the beginning of the film, but she adamantly defends herself throughout, both vocally to Mitch, but also in her behaviour. My fear is that she is sent upstairs in order to make Mitch the hero, the stereotypical image of masculinity, carrying Melanie’s limp, injured body back down the stairs and leading the family to safety. I wouldn’t have such a problem with this if that had been the apparent dynamic throughout the movie – but I truly expected more. I did enjoy The Birds. The suspense was fantastic and I appreciated that it resulted from something other than the threat of an axe murderer. I will definitely continue to explore Hitchcock’s work, but my expectations of characterisation have been pared right back once again. It’s a shame, that.