Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015)

It took many years for America to acknowledge Alfred Hitchcock as being an artist and an exceptional director. He was liked upon as being more of an entertainer than anything else. This was never the case. In the early 1960s, a French director called François Truffaut almost singlehandedly changed Hitchcock's legacy to being that of a filmmaker. This was achieved through lengthy discussions between the two men on the subject of Hitchcock's career as well as on cinema in general. A book was eventually published that covered all details of Hitchcock films. The above documentary chronicles the talks that transpired between Hitchcock and Truffaut. Directors from different countries and different eras, are interviewed regarding how Alfred Hitchcock has proved to be a big influence on them. In some ways, this documentary is the ultimate tribute to the "Master of Suspense." It sums up his talent very well by the discussions of the techniques Hitchcock used, as well as his unique gift for storytelling. An excellent documentary about one of the finest directors in the history of cinema.

Another year, another Hitchcock documentary. I suppose I was expecting more from HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT before of all the high brow praise surrounding it, and the link to an early 1960s interview between the master and French director Francois Truffaut promised plenty. However, despite the title, the interview isn't really mentioned all that much and limited to only a few audio snippets linked along the way. I suppose they featured it predominantly to make this stand out from all the other Hitchcock documentaries over the years.Instead this documentary is the usual praise-fest in which various familiar faces show up and talk about how much of a genius Hitchcock was. Martin Scorsese features heavily alongside other notables like Wes Anderson and David Fincher. Most of the film looks at VERTIGO and PSYCHO and there are many clips utilised from both films. I've always loved PSYCHO but consider VERTIGO to be a bit overrated although it seems these pretentious high brow intellectuals love to analyse it to craft their own theories. Not my cup of tea really - I'm just a kind of 'sit back and enjoy' kind of guy and that's the reason I love Hitchcock, he knew how to entertain.

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015) was written and directed by Kent Jones. The movie is a documentary about the two-week period during which the young French filmmaker Francois Truffaut interviewed the older filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Truffaut--who greatly admired Hitchcock's work--was writing a book about Hitchcock. It was published in 1966 with the title "Cinema According to Hitchcock."This long interview was sound recorded, but apparently not entirely filmed. So, often we are watching a still while the words are given as voice-over. We see clips of great Hitchcock and Truffaut movies, but usually I couldn't see the relationship between the words and the film clips.Also, Hitchcock spoke English, and Truffaut spoke French, so each was hearing the other person's words through a interpreter. (Obviously, the interpreter was a professional. Still, unless you know both languages well, you can't tell whether each man is hearing the essence of the other man's words.)Most of the movie consists of comments about Hitchcock, Truffaut, and the book given by famous film directors. These include Peter Bogdanovich, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Paul Schrader, and Martin Scorsese.I'm a movie buff, and I've reviewed over 600 movies for IMDb since 1999. However, I don't understand the intricate technical subtleties that film professors teach, and that were discussed in this movie. I felt as if I were outside, looking inside, watching professionals talk about their magic. I would have preferred less talking and more film clips, but director Jones wanted to give us talking heads instead. Of course, the heads that were talking were highly successful movie directors, so it's hard to complain. However, this is a better movie for highly knowledgeable film people. It was interesting enough for my wife and me, but I won't suggest that you seek it out unless you are really versed in cinema.We saw this film at the wonderful Dryden Theatre in the George Eastman Museum in Rochester, NY. Naturally, because the movies discussed were meant for the large screen, the film clips work better on a large screen. However, the interviews will work just as well on a small screen.

HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT (2015) **** Cinephelic wet dream - fine documentary about how acclaimed filmmakers Francois Truffaut - a then up-and-coming New Wave French director - managed to coerce The Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock for a week long series of in-depth convos on the latter's filmography and the thought process/creative links they both shared resulting in a treatise book/filmmakers/goer's bible and now the end result. Interspersed with fellow disciples of cinema Martin Scorsese, James Gray and brimming with talent David Fincher discuss how Hitch's influences enforced their own visions as well as groundbreaking the format for ages to come. Compiled by Kent Jones with appreciation and love. Go; enjoy.