Hitchcock / Truffaut film review 4 Hitchcock / Truffaut film review Caroline Halstead

In America, you call this man "Hitch". In France, we call him "Monsieur Hitchcock"







In 1966, directors Alfred Hitchcock and François Truffaut were household names. But their reputations differed. Whilst the world saw 'Hitch' as “the master of suspense” – director of mainstream thrillers and populist ‘light’ entertainment – Truffaut’s modern classics of the Nouvelle Vague gained him high critical repute.







But for a young Truffaut, Hitchcock was the greatest filmmaker in the world – the man who had forever transformed cinema into a true art form. Wanting to honour his idol, Truffaut wrote "Cinema According to Hitchcock" – eight days of conversation that became one of the most influential texts ever written about film.







New documentary Hitchcock / Truffaut revisits these interviews and invites some of the world's most revered directors to share their view on these two masters of creativity.















Kent Jones’s documentary interweaves original recordings of these conversations with footage from Hitchcock’s films. Talking head interviews from an astonishing group of directors – from Wes Anderson to Martin Scorsese; Olivier Assayas to David Fincher – invites us into the minds of filmmakers we admire, showing us their passions.







“He thinks about what terrifies him until it attracts him.”

Form Hitchcock classics like Rebecca and The Birds to lesser known, more adventurous (or salacious) works, we see the thought-processes behind Hitchcock's creations, mediated on by these contemporary talents. Here's a Hitchcock brimming over with ideas, meticulous in his approach to aesthetics and in constructing a scene.







What's fascinating about these conversations is how they manage to reveal as much about the directors speaking, as the man of whom they speak. One minute Scorsese muses articulately on the power of dreams, the next Arnaud Desplechin talks passionately of seduction and desire. “He thinks about what terrifies him until it attracts him,” says Desplechin at one point, smiling knowingly.











“All actors are cattle”

The film doesn't shy away from the more fetishistic qualities in Hitchcock's work, nor the recalcitrant aspects of the director's personality. His languorous drawl comes vividly through over the tape recordings. We are reminded of his disregard for leading man and ladies: “All actors are cattle” he scoffs at one point. But, while we've seen these sides to him – in recent films Hitchcock and The Girl – we've rarely had such an talent-focused observation. We also see hints of Hitchcock's vulnerable side, unprecedented in previous biopics, thanks to his budding intimacy with Truffaut during their ruminations.







Often funny, consistently fascinating and deeply passionate, Hitchcock / Truffaut is not just a film for hardcore cinephiles. With immersing footage and rippling with excitement, this is a rare documentary that will entertain anyone with even the slightest interest in contemporary cinema.







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