Rating: 4/5
"Don't worry yourself dear; it's only a bloody movie." Alma Reville stands strong in defense of her husband's controversial new work, while a film now considered a classic masterpiece is slaughtered by colleagues, friends and associates alike. In the late 1950s during its production, Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' raised many an eyebrow, and many a concern over its supposedly disgusting content. From showing a toilet being flushed, to a showering woman not being shot through frosted glass in silhouette, studio executives reviled Hitchcock's audacity. It is this struggle to get from perverted plan to macabre masterpiece that Sacha Gervasi's recent biopic focuses on, in parallel with a profile of the auteur's relationship with his headstrong wife and associate Alma.
The legendary Anthony Hopkins drew my main anticipation for this picture, being an unquestionable master of character, and engagement through it. His chilling Hannibal Lecter brought psychological terror to a new level, and now he brings us a narration of such art forms, in his uncanny portrayal of the Master of Suspense. The incredible make-up transformation by Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel narrowly missed out on an Oscar this year, but their effects together with Hopkins' performance create an admirable likeness that fuels the movie's essence.
"You know that poor, tortured soul Jimmy Stewart played in Vertigo? That's Hitch. Except younger, slimmer and better looking." This film serves as a nice portrait of the mysterious Master, who proves even horror-makers have nightmares, as Ed Gein haunts his sleep and inspires his waking. Tributary styles of score and cinematography lurk, with several nice uses of the protagonist's famous silhouette haunting the backdrops and dominating the foregrounds.
Hitch ("hold the 'cock'") is himself a tortured soul. He feels hated by the people he makes rich, feels betrayed by leading ladies who 'choose the life of a housewife,' and is driven to hard-nosed madness by a suspected affair between Alma and her friend Whitfield. Journalists begin to ask him if he's too old to make movies, and in his complex way, the torrents of rejection only push his determination. It seems more out of spite than of ambition that he strives, and various obsessions power his creative motor, sometimes in the most frightening ways.
As an insight into Hitchcock's method and madness, this film is veritably informative on a personal level. Examining his relationships with his many associates, we have appearances from Helen Mirren, whose sagely wisdom shapes Alma; Scarlett Johansson, performing well but not really resembling Janet Leigh; and Jessica Biel as the already discarded Vera Miles. The cast is strong, but of course hinging on yet another prize performance from Anthony Hopkins, whose ambition to play the Master of Suspense manifests in this captivating role.
Addressing a question many IMDb-ers have been raising: it is essential to have watched 'Psycho' before taking in 'Hitchcock,' to avoid, as the Master so carefully does with his crew, any harrowing plot-lines and secrets from being revealed undeservedly. The executive's snotty synopsis of "some queer killing people in his mother's dress" would certainly give misconceptions to anyone new to this particular classic.
'Hitchcock' is an enjoyable, well-acted and informedly produced biopic, and with this covering such a small fraction of Hitchcock's career, it's safe to assume a full birth-to-death tribute would be so extensive, it'd amount to remaking each of his movies all over again from behind the camera. It is particularly nice for younger viewers unfamiliar with the era's values, to comprehend the challenges Hitchcock was faced with, and how it reflected on his personality, and for anyone who's ever wondered, "What's it like to be married to a man obsessed with murder?"
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