Hitchcock

If you hadn't guessed by now, I'm kind of a nut when it comes to Alfred Hitchcock. I have a bombardment of books on him as well as many of his films on DVD and a brooch and necklace of his face; so yeah I'm a little obsessed. So naturally when I heard there was going to be a movie made about him set during the making of Psycho I kinda got a little excited. But then weariness snuck in and I began to think, oh boy the guy who's directing it is kinda of a nobody, this could go down awfully. Then I saw pictures of Anthony Hopkins and thought, that's just Anthony Hopkins in a fat suit. But regardless of these factors, I was going to go into this with an open mind. And you know what, I loved it!

I think this is a film created for film buffs/Alfred Hitchcock worshippers. With a lot of today's movies we get behind the scenes/making of featurettes in the special features of our two disc Special Edition DVDs. That was not an option back in the day when going to the cinema was our only access to seeing a feature film. This is the perfect film to get an idea of what it was like behind the scenes on an Alfred Hitchcock picture. Sure we have read about it in millions of books but to actually see something visually, I gotta tell you it made me smile pretty consistently throughout the film.

'Hithcock' also delves into some personal issues with his wife Alma (played by Helen Mirren). It portrays a very headstrong Alma who is tired of being hid behind the shadow of her husband. We see a jealous (but quiet) wife who was perhaps not shown as much attention as Hitch's leading blondes.
Whether or not these moments in the film are very accurate, I'm not sure. I like to think Hitch was always a loyal husband. I read somewhere once that after Alma died Alfred died shortly after because of a broken heart, because he had lost the love of his life. I always loved that and hold onto that dearly.

Despite Anthony Hopkins' less convincing make-up I think he did a brilliant job. I completely forgot it was him at one point, I was convinced it was Hitch because of the mannerisms and the voice. The most enjoyable part of the film for me has to be near the end when Psycho is being screened at the cinema and he is out in the foyer orchestrating people's screams to the shower scene. It's highly humorous and captures Hitch's sense of humor brilliantly.

I saw this movie with my Mum and after we left the cinema I made the comment that I wished the film focused more on the production of the film and less on his relationship with Alma. My Mum disagreed and said it was nice to see a different point of view and she appreciated that additional insight. I kind of agreed with her after that.

It's such a relief I enjoyed this film.

Rating: 4/5