In any conversation about history’s most influential movie makers, Alfred Hitchcock would be brought up almost immediately.
This may be thanks in part to director François Truffaut’s 1967 book of interviews with Hitchcock, titled Hitchcock/Truffaut, which explained the depth of thought that went into every scene of his major films. The book is now the source material for a film of the same name, directed by Kent Jones.
Hitchcock/Truffaut avoids making the mistake of simply covering the same material as the book and instead brings an impressive cast of today’s most prominent directors, including Scorsese, Fincher, and Anderson, to sing the praises of Hitchcock and the book.
Also used are the audio recordings of the original interviews, which provide valuable context, such as Hitchcock’s tone of voice and manner of speaking (slow and deliberate, like his directing style), but unfortunately include the translator talking over Hitchcock as he speaks.
One of the key strengths of this movie is its accessibility. I went to the film never having read Hitchcock/Truffaut and never felt that I was out of the loop. There are plenty of movie clips that clearly highlight the points that the narrators are making. In addition, the movie expertly avoids taking itself too seriously and features a number of comedic and lighthearted moments that prevent it from becoming too monotonous or self-important.
For the depth of its subject matter, this movie has an extremely short run time of only 80 minutes. On the positive side, this movie is never boring and none of the content feels throwaway or misplaced. However, this means the only movies to receive in-depth analysis are Vertigo and Psycho, with the rest of the film being dedicated to looking at specific scenes instead. I could have easily watched another hour of film discussion, which highlights how engaging it was, but also how much more could have been said.
One final note is that everyone speaking about Hitchcock, whether it be during the original interviews or in the documentary, is male. During the analysis of Vertigo, Fincher notes how Hitchcock might have made Scottie the main character instead of Judy as an acknowledgement of his male gaze, but no female directors are present to comment on how this affects their interpretation of the movie.
Overall, while it could have had more content, Hitchcock/Truffaut is an extremely engaging film and a good choice for anyone who loves movies, and loves movies about movies.
