Kent Jones' Hitchcock/Truffaut documentary

The Truffaut/Hitchcock interview book is one of the best (the best?) about a director's approach to film-making, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this:

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/hitchcocktruffaut-reviews.html

 

Looks fascinating!

 

And what a great poster too!

 

Should be good. This book was practically my bible on the film studies course I took.

 

wow. a shame he didn't get his hands on the cut Torn Curtain scene that Hitchcock promised to send Truffaut......

 

Same here. It was my bible! I should re-read it.

 

Now that would be something. Always thought that was an underrated movie, overshadowed by all that fuss about Hitchcock and Newman not seeing eye to eye

 

I just watched it. It's a bit of a disappointment as it is framed around the meeting of Truffaut and Hitchcock for the book, but there's barely 10 minutes devoted to the meeting or process. It unravels into the standard interview fare, with Wes Anderson, Marty Scorcese and Paul Schrader talking about Hitchcock. Lots of nice clips and details on Hitchcock's films, but if you go into it expecting to experience the writing of the book or learn anything about experience shared by the two directors, you're going to be disappointed. It could easily have just been titled "Hitchcock/." I guess nothing but a few stills (seen in the book) of the two directors and the tape recordings exist. You can get ahold of the interview recordings online. I think if you love Hitchcock/Truffaut, listening to those would be far more interesting, although the woman translator isn't that great and she stutters around excitedly a bit looking for precise words. It's annoying. Truffaut's introduction to the book is far more interesting than the film's coverage of the meeting, and using the standard interview process hearing OTHER DIRECTOR'S comments on Hitchcock's films sort of defeats the whole purpose of "Hitchcock/Truffaut." What made Hitchcock/Truffaut interesting was the minutae of detail about specific shots being broken down and what Hitch was trying to accomplish, but that doesn't come across in this film much at all and it just delivers a anecdotal overview of Hitch's work, also abandoning the nice, precise chronological, film-by-film structure of the book. Unlike the book, this documentary would hardly be enlightening to young filmmakers as a guide to cinematic technique. The biggest section of the film devoted to the use of overhead camera "God's eye" shots, comes all out of the mouth of Scorcese and it's his opinion, and none of it from the mouth of Hitchcock or Truffaut. It's a lovely documentary about Hitchcock with some neat footage, but it's "Hitchcock/Truffaut" largely in name.

 

Sorry, ran out of time (ahem, 30-minute rule).


The biggest revelation for me involved Tippi Hedren. There is some publicity footage of Hedren sitting in a director's chair with a crow on her shoulder with Hitch, and she looks so INCREDIBLY HOT. Gorgeous. She never struck a chord with me in Hitch's films, but in this footage she looks natural and relaxed and drop dead sexy. Her hair isn't piled up on her head pinched tight like a schoolmarm, and she's hasn''t been plasticized and Technicolored into some zombied fetish idol by Hitchcock's lens, similar to the way James Stewart demands Kim Novak's makeover into HIS perfection. In this footage, Tippi Hedren just looks absolutely natural, fit and lovely. No wonder Hitch went ga-ga for her.

 

Since this is a music forum, I figured the music that Georges Delerue wrote for Truffaut's films will be of interest.
The story behind the soundtrack: Jules and Jim, by Georges Delerue
Jules and Jim, by Georges Delerue