Alfred Hitchcock is renowned as the master of suspense, a moniker earned over 61 films and 55 years in filmmaking. Alas, the first biopic about the famed director fails to do its subject justice. Instead of an insightful look at Hitch’s life and work, it turns the creation of one of his most acclaimed thrillers into a self-reflexive comedy replete with lashings of domestic drama.
The adoption of a light-hearted tone in Hitchcock doesn’t stem from its subject, or the production it chronicles. Nor does it originate from its source material, with Stephen Rebello’s non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho methodical and meticulous in its recounting of one of the auteur’s most iconic cinematic contributions.
Eschewing intricacy for overtness and amusement, documentarian Sacha Gervasi (Anvil: The Story of Anvil) makes his feature debut with the feel-good rendering of the film’s events. Present are all the easy references that even casual filmgoers would spot – Hitchcock’s rotund girth in silhouette, his apparent obsession with blondes, and the mimicking of many well-known elements from his filmic output (Vertigo, Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, Notorious and Frenzy among them); absent is anything other than a cursory treatment of the filmmaker.
The appropriately-named Hitchcock (starring Anthony Hopkins (360) as the famous filmmaker) charts the making of his sensational 1960 serial killer slasher, Psycho. Under pressure to ensure the film is a success, the director’s relationship with his wife and collaborator Alma Reville (Helen Mirren, The Door) suffers, as she assists screenwriter Whitfield Cook (Danny Huston, Wrath of the Titans) on another adaptation, and Hitch becomes enamoured with Janet Leigh (Scarlett Johansson, The Avengers), his leading lady.
Though Gervasi is conscientious in his endeavour to ensure the feature is steeped in Hitchcock trademarks, the lack of depth – story, psychology and otherwise – in John J. McLaughlin’s (Black Swan) screenplay cannot be overcome. A comical highlights package of eccentricities instead of a biography, Hitchcock is as superficial in its content as it is lacking in scenes of the director in action, and the casting of Johansson as Janet Leigh, James D’Arcy (W.E.) as Anthony Perkins and Jessica Biel (Total Recall) as Vera Miles, Psycho’s stars, amounts to little more than impersonations for novelty value.
Like the equally laboured, formulaic, and thematically obvious The Iron Lady, the film relies significantly upon its central performances to generate entertainment value – although Mirren’s portrayal of Hitchcock’s beleaguered spouse convinces more than Hopkins’ make-up and copied mannerisms. Sadly, as pivotal as his marriage to Reville was to Hitchcock’s career, on screen their relationship lacks authenticity or even interest. As a result, Hitchcock languishes as an article of referential admiration rather than saying anything of interest about its subject. As a cinematic figure, the director is teeming with intriguing stories – but this isn’t one of them.
Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Hitchcock
Director: Sacha Gervasi
US, 2012, 98 min
In cinemas 10 January
Distributor: Fox
Rated M
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