Hitchcock (2012)

Thanks for the memories!

Fantastic!

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

As someone who's seen a lot of Hithcock's films I was very interested to see something that reflected the lift the director. It was certainly well known that he had an interest in several of the actresses that worked for him and had a thing for young blonde haired women. Although the characterization seems to go over the top with the introduction of Ed Gein into the movie, it is still interesting. I don't think Hitchcock had some kind of obsession with murder - he just found his niche in the movie business and stuck with. Anthony Hopkins is brilliant in this film with an amazing portrayal of the famous director - at least as how the public seemed to view him. Helen Mirren was also very good as was the rest of the cast. A very interesting movie and well shot.

I've already seen "The Girl", the controversial BBC film starring Toby Jones which centred on Hitchcock's relationship with his leading lady Tippi Hedren during the making of "The Birds". This Hollywood movie takes us back another couple of years to the fraught creation of his slashterpiece "Psycho" and stars Anthony Hopkins as Hitch and Helen Mirren as his diminutive wife / muse / screenwriter / sparring partner Alma Reville. It's fair to say that while this characterisation of the great director is less jaundiced than the cruel manipulator depicted in "The Girl", it's still very much a warts and all portrait we get here.However, whilst not denying the obsessive / eccentric / warped (take your pick ) side of Hitchcock's nature, a perhaps uneasy balance is struck giving at least a more balanced view of this obviously complex, driven man. So yes, he is depicted as voyeuristic, creepily looking through his secret spy-hole as Vera Miles undresses, temperamental (natch!) as he loses himself while directing "Psycho's" famous shower scene and jealous as he suspects Alma of having an affair with handsome, suave, screenwriter Whitfield Kemp. But these are balanced out to a degree by his portrayal as an avuncular old man with a taste for cotton candy in his playful scenes with Janet Leigh, played by Scarlett Johansen, his staunch support for Alma, always crediting her for her input to their marital and creative relationships and of course his genius as a director making a landmark movie.I've read a number of books on Hitchcock and so got most of the situations shown here, but I didn't go along with all of the director's choices. It seemed a bit much for one thing to have Hitchcock actually haunted by the supposed inspiration for the original "Psycho" novel by Robert Bloch, the American murderer Ed Geins, but this was balanced out by a fine scene where we see Hitchcock "conducting" the shower scene in the foyer at the film's premiere as he hears the audience's terrified screams from inside.Whilst not denying the talent of the A-list cast, it's clear that neither Hopkins or Mirren resemble Hitch and Alma and for all he's a celebrated mimic I didn't think Hopkins got Hitchcock's rich vocal delivery. I also didn't think enough room was given to important subsidiary characters, particularly his screenwriter Joe Stefano who gets the one-scene-and-gone treatment. One also suspects some of the anecdotes here are apocryphal even while I accept some of them may have started with Hitchcock himself. I did enjoy the backstage scenes especially the staging of key scenes in the movie.Well acted and staged, this movie struck me as being a little light on facts and heavy on legend and so lacking a little depth and some truth. By the end though I still couldn't particularly differentiate between Hitchcock the family man and the directorial genius, which might have been the intention anyway.Well, I guess it's only a movie as he once famously said.

and convincing in many scenes. because its ambition is high and Psycho making only a part. or pretext. in fact, it seems be the film of relationship between Hitchcock and his wife. and the presence of Anthony Hopkins and Hellen Mirren in the lead roles represents the best argument. in fact, it is a nuanced and seductive portrait of a great director . its sarcasm, its fragility, his universe, vulnerability, dark side and need of support, his childish reactions and his humanity are presented with a surprising science of detail. it is not exactly a homage. only, maybe, a kind of translation. to remind the roods of an admirable filmography. and Sir Anthony Hopkins remains the best choice for a credible Hitchcock.

I clicked open this film because I admire Alfred Hitchcock's fame and his work, but this is far more tedious than I anticipated. Alfred Hitchcock is indisputably a genius, and we are eagerly curious about his personal life, but it gives me the impression that it's rather boring and bereaved of any adventure or romance. Even though the film strives to exaggerate his love towards his creative and independent wife Alma, that obscure and plain love affair cannot support the legendary atmosphere fox company grants his films.Although I feel obliged to comment on Scarlet Johansson and James Darcy's acting skills, I barely seen any of their charms because all young actors are shaded under the glory of great Alfred Hitchcock, who according to Anthony Hopkin's depiction, is a pervert and self- centered wrinkled ball that breathes like a old bellow with tons of coal crumbs stuffed in it. Although I admire Alfred Hitchcock's talent, it doesn't interest me whether he keeps his swimming pool or have his reservation in a luxurious truffle from somewhere in Europe . They are fist world problems, and I have seen old artists sleeping on the street with newspapers as their blankets and granite as beds.In the shower scene Hitchcock was under the delusion that Janet was Whitfield, the knucklehead that had an affair with his wife. And the scene gave audience the impression that he was going to stab Janet, which gave the shower scene in Psycho an authentic texture. But you know, most people would at least confront Alma before murderous thoughts emerge, and the stress depicted caused by the imaginary affair in the movie is beyond the reasonable level. Failure of this emotional twist makes the whole film sort of artificial.I must click acclaim for the ending. That promotion manual is exciting, and the audience's reaction is palatable, and the spotlight around the red carpet lights up the mood just right. But when Sir Anthony Hopkins is seemingly directing waves of screaming, I hope they can remove that waiter from the background. His presence is really awkward. And probably a revolving shot would be better, in a more open and larger field, because that major highlight scene makes Hitchcock seems like a self-absorbed weirdo