Discuss Hitchcock
Discuss → Movies → Hitchcock → General
Inaccurate but entertaining. Should it have been made?
posted by FergooseSTAFFMOD on July 27, 2020 at 5:53 PM
By all accounts this is not a factual tale of the making of Psycho or the life and times of Hitchcock. The exclusion of various key contributors to Hitchcok's film in the elevation of his wife can grate, as reputable careers are sacrificed at the altar of a 'human interest' angle in the film. I would have thought there would have been ample material to work with form such a 'colourful' life.
Hopkins and Mirren are solid, even if character acting doesn't appear to be a strong suit of the former. The marriage dynamic works well as does the tale of adversity in making a blockbuster movie.
From having seen interviews of the impish Hitchcock, I suspect he wouldn't have minded the estensive creative licence shown by this film, particularly in elevating the importance of his wife at home and at work. But after the superficial pleausre of watching a well made film passes, I'm left wondering if the entire topic would have been best left untouched. By misleading do we do more harm than good in paying respects to the heritage of great films?
6/10
Reply by Fergoose
on July 29, 2020 at 7:13 PM
How about Joseph Stefano who did the screenplay for Psycho or Bernard Herrman that did the score? Or whoever was involved in editing it? Or those with similar roles in any other Hitchcock films that Alma wasn't involved in? Or those from Hitchcock's TV production crew that helped to make Psycho on a tight budget?
Basically anyone that assisted Hitchcock in any way that was mis-represented and fictionalised in this film as having been carried out by his wife (who was not credited for any involvement in Psycho as far as I'm aware, despite an eventful career a decade or two earlier).
It's not the same gravity of issue as that hilarious film that claimed the US cracked the Enigma code, but it is of a similar vein. I think it is questionable to rewrite history and falsely attribute the accomplishments of others in order to try and make a film more marketable.
If the film was to be about Alma's contributions why not make it around one of Hitchcock's earlier films that she did contribute to?
Reply by Fergoose
on August 4, 2020 at 12:56 PM
Yeah, he is played briefly by the Karate Kid (possibly an even bigger insult!). It isn't a big deal but it did portray the film as a doomed turd until Alma came along, despite the efforts of Stefano and Herrman and everyone else.