Hitchcock (2012) or, When Hitchcock Made Psycho

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A formidable cast assemble on this scarlet red poster full of slanted angles and promises of fine entertainment, - for Sacha Gervasi's Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock, arguably the world's best filmmaker, feels a metal fatigue after his successful thriller North by Northwest (1959), and in an attempt to recapture the experimental freedom of youth again, he throws himself into making a film about the world's most gruesome serial killer, Wisconsinite Ed Gein. 

Hitchcock is written by John J. McLaughlin (Death Collector (1988)), adapting the non-fiction book Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho (1990) by Stephen Rebello (Dolls! Dolls! Dolls! (2020)), and directed by great English filmmaker, debuting Sacha Gervasi (Anvil (2008, documentary)).

Somehow I still feel that good old Hitch deserves a more epic treatment for a biopic than this, - but I may be wrong... In any case Hitchcock is darned well-made, and it specifically concerns an inarguably important period in the master's life.

Helen Mirren (The Clearing (2004)) is excellent as Alma Reville, whom this film credits as the capable, rock-solid support at her husband's side through thick and thin, and Anthony Hopkins (A Chorus of Disapproval (1989)) has a late star turn in his remarkable career here. He is expectedly perfect, - in formidable makeup and prosthetics, - as Alfred Hitchcock. Scarlett Johansson (The Spirit (2008)) is delightful as Janet Leigh, and so is Michael Stuhlbarg (Call Me By Your Name (2017)) as Lew Wasserman. Danny Huston (Hotel (2001)) is ideal as a friendly scribe. Danny Elfman (Dumbo (2019)) has spun an appropriately cinematic score.

Hitchcock is a luxurious gift from Hollywood: Funny, sharp, moving (the portrayal of Reville and Hitchcock's marriage) and a captivating, great story. The premiere scene in the end is especially satisfying. In hindsight it feels like Hitch erected a Freudian Gobelin for the unprepared masses with Psycho (1960). Both to him and the good people behind Hitchcock; bravo!

 

Related post:

 

Top 10: Best Hollywood-set movies

Watch a short trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 15 mil. $

Box office: 27 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.8 times its cost)

[Hitchcock premiered 1 November (AFI Fest, US) and runs 98 minutes. Mirren had met Hitchcock and been offered a murder victim part in his penultimate film Frenzy (1972) but had turned it down (and later regretted it.) Development began in 2005, first as a miniseries. Shooting took place from April - June 2012 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #22 to a 287k $ first weekend in 17 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #13 in 561 theaters and grossed 6 mil. $ (22.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Colombia with 4.9 mil. $ (18.1 %), - but this seems like it must be a mistake, since Colombia is not normally a sizable market, - and Australia with 3.7 mil. $ (13.7 %). The film was nominated for the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar, lost to Les Misérables. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs and a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Gervasi returned with November Criminals (2017). Hopkins returned in RED 2 (2013); Mirren in Phil Spector (2013, TV movie), with a voice performance in Monsters University (2013) and in the flesh in The Audience (2013); Johansson in Don Jon (2013). Hitchcock is fresh at 60 % with a 6.20/10 average rating at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hitchcock?

Falling (2020) - Mortensen debuts with precious, personal drama

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+ Best Drama of the Year  

 

A little boy by his father, back from hunting, holding a dead duck in his hands, make up this evocative poster for Viggo Mortensen's Falling

 

A middle-aged gay man is taking his old father with him from his primitive farm home back to his own in California, because the old man is suffering from dementia and cancer. But the father's enmity strikes up conflict and old memories.

 

Falling is written and directed by Viggo Mortensen (Ruby Cairo (1992, actor)), one of the best actors of our time, who debuts with it and also co-stars and has composed the film's unnoticeable score. He dedicated the film to his brothers, and it is somewhat based on dynamics and situations from their own family, and his experiences with both of his parents suffering from dementia.

Mortensen is a graceful, incredibly forgiving and patient good son to his difficult father in the film, played with much verve by Lance Henriksen (Dorothy and the Witches of Oz (2012)), a man whose slipping into dementia also finds him forgetting basic social limits to speech and behavior, but especially his speech which is continuously vulgar, unrestrained and offensive. The film confronts us with the fact that certain prejudices may go out of control and out of the mouth of someone with this sad disease, and Falling makes it both grueling and sometimes funny to witness these intense lashing-outs.

Sverrir Gudnason (Borg vs. McEnroe (2017)) is forceful as the younger version of Henriksen, a compelling, masculine man who is nevertheless twice unsuccessful in his major relationships with women. The film indicates this is due to his tyrannical side and unwillingness to compromise and show care, but it doesn't spell out the marriages and their falls for us. Laura Linney (The Nanny Diaries (2007)) shows up in a long, good scene as Mortensen's sister. Terry Chen (Continuum (2012-15)) is good as Mortensen's husband, and Gabby Velis is very sweet as their adopted daughter Monica.

Though a veteran actor and gifted multi-hyphenate, Mortensen is on new ground here as a director, and he charges a layered and difficult drama with personal stakes and admirable guts. Falling is not a plot-driven film; it goes sideways a little here, a little there, but the performances and material, - and the constant feeling of a thoughtful artist behind it all, - makes it compelling still. It is a far cry from the polished feel that made Mortensen's recent turn in super-success Green Book (2018) a global crowd-pleaser. But it grapples with real life and issues with tenacity and boldness, and it feels incredibly authentic. Don't miss it, if it's in a cinema near you.

 

Related posts:

 

Viggo Mortensen: 2020 in films - according to Film Excess

The day after the day after ... the 2019 Oscars 

Oscars 2019: Predictions and Film Excess' favorites 

Green Book (2018) - P. Farrelly and a pair of great actors make racial drama thrive with comedic fuel (co-star)

The day after ... the Oscars 2017 

Oscars 2017: Predictions and Film Excess' favorites 

Captain Fantastic (2016) - Ross' riveting film of fatherhood is a powerful must-see (star)

The Two Faces of January (2014) - Amini's debut is a delicious but slight Greek period adaptation (co-star)

On the Road (2012) - Salles' near-perfect adaptation (co-star)

A Dangerous Method (2011) - Cronenberg's rather disappointing waltz with the fathers of modern psychology (co-star)

Appaloosa (2008) - Best traditional American western in 16 years (co-star)

Eastern Promises (2007) - Cronenberg invites us to meet the Russian mob in London (co-star)

A History of Violence (2005) - Cronenberg's powerful rumination of our violence (co-star)

 

Watch a trailer for the film here 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: 17k $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Falling premiered 31 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 112 minutes. Mortensen took up co-starring in the film to secure financing. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, and in Ontario, Canada, including Toronto, from February - April 2019. The film has only released gross numbers from Slovenia and Russia so far, which come to tiny 17k $. The film is set to release in 7 more markets in coming months, including the UK and Germany. It does not have a North-American release set yet, and obviously its release is marred considerably by the China Virus pandemic. Mortensen does not have another project announced as a filmmaker, but he is starring in two projects that are in pre-production. Henriksen returned in 3 TV-series prior to his theatrical return in The Unhealer (2020). Falling is fresh at 65 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Falling?