| Hitchcock | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Sacha Gervasi |
| Screenplay by | John J. McLaughlin |
| Based on | Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho byStephen Rebello |
| Produced by | Ivan Reitman Tom Pollock Joe Medjuck Tom Thayer Alan Barnette |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Jeff Cronenweth |
| Edited by | Pamela Martin |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 98 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $15 million[3] |
| Box office | $27 million[4] |
Hitchcock is a 2012 Americanbiographicalromanticdrama film directed bySacha Gervasi. Based onStephen Rebello'sAlfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, it charts the relationship betweenAlfred Hitchcock and his wife,Alma Reville, during the filming ofPsycho in 1959.Hitchcock premiered at theAFI Fest on November 1, 2012, and was released in the US on November 23 byFox Searchlight Pictures. It grossed $27 million against a $15 million budget.
In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock opens his latest film,North by Northwest, to both critical and commercial success, but is troubled by a reporter's insinuation that he should retire. Seeking to reclaim the artistic daring of his youth, Hitchcock turns down film proposals, includingCasino Royale andThe Diary of Anne Frank, in favor of a horror novel calledPsycho byRobert Bloch, based on the real-life crimes of murdererEd Gein. Gein appears in sequences throughout the film, in which he seems to prompt Hitchcock's imagination regarding thePsycho story or act as some function of Hitchcock's subconscious mind.
Hitchcock's wife and artistic collaborator, Alma, is no more enthusiastic about the idea than his colleagues, especially since she is being lobbied by their writer friend,Whitfield Cook, to look at his own screenplay. However, she warms to Hitchcock's proposal, suggesting the innovative plot turn of killing the female lead early in the film. The studio heads atParamount Pictures prove more difficult to persuade, forcing Hitchcock to finance the film personally and use hisAlfred Hitchcock Presents television crew (over at competitor Revue/Universal) to shoot the film, his last under contract to Paramount.
The pressures of the production, such as dealing withGeoffrey Shurlock of theMotion Picture Association of America, and Hitchcock's lecherous habits, such as when they confer with the female lead,Janet Leigh, annoy Alma. She begins a personal writing collaboration with Whitfield Cook on his screenplay at his beach house without Hitchcock's knowledge. Hitchcock eventually discovers what she has been doing and suspects her of having an affair. This concern affects Hitchcock's work onPsycho.
Alma temporarily takes over production of the film when Hitchcock is bedridden after collapsing from overwork, working on a sequence which included a complicatedprocess shot showing Detective Arbogast's demise, with Alma's specification of a 35 mm lens, instead of the 50 mm lens preferred by Hitchcock for this film. Gein draws Hitchcock's attention to sand on his bathroom floor, the quantity of which reveals how much time Alma has been spending at the beach house with Whitfield Cook. Hitchcock eventually confronts Alma and asks her if she is having an affair. Alma angrily denies it.
After his recovery, Hitchcock expresses his disappointment toVera Miles at how she didn't follow through on his plan to make her the next biggest star afterGrace Kelly, but Miles says she is happy with her family life.
Hitchcock's cut ofPsycho is poorly received by the studio executives, while Alma discovers Whitfield having sex with a younger woman at his beach house. Hitchcock and Alma reconcile, and they work together in the film's editing room. Their renewed collaboration yields results, culminating in Alma persuading Hitchcock to acceptBernard Herrmann's suggestion for adding harsh strings score to the shower scene.
After maneuvering Shurlock into leaving the film's content largely intact, Hitchcock learns the studio is only going to open the film in two theaters. Hitchcock arranges for special theater instructions to pique the public's interest such as forbidding admittance after the film begins. At the film's premiere, Hitchcock first views the audience from the projection booth, looking out through its small window at them. Hitchcock then waits in the lobby for the audience's reaction to the shower scene, conducting slashing motions as they scream on cue. The film is rewarded with an enthusiastic reception.
With the film's screening so well received, Hitchcock publicly thanks his wife for helping make it possible and they affirm their love and partnership. At the conclusion at his home, Hitchcock addresses the audience notingPsycho proved a major high point of his career and he is currently pondering his next project. A raven lands on his shoulder hinting at his next motion picture,The Birds.
The final title cards say that Hitchcock directed six more films afterPsycho, none of which would eclipse its commercial success, and although he never won anOscar, theAmerican Film Institute awarded him its Life Achievement Award in 1979: an award that he claimed he shared, as he had his life, with his wife, Alma.
In 2005, it was reported thatA&E would produce a television film orminiseries based onStephen Rebello's bookAlfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.[5] Subsequently, the book was optioned as a major motion picture. In 2007,the Montecito Picture Company, owned byIvan Reitman and Tom Pollock, set up afirst-look deal withParamount Pictures, the original distributor ofPsycho. However, after four years of development at Paramount, production moved toFox Searchlight Pictures.[6]
Sacha Gervasi was in negotiations to direct the dramatic motion picture in November 2011. Early the next month, Gervasi signed on as director withAnthony Hopkins andHelen Mirren attached to star asAlfred Hitchcock andAlma Reville, respectively.[6]Black Swan co-writer John J. McLaughlin wrote the first screenplay drafts; subsequently, Rebello wrote additional uncredited drafts that shifted the story's focus away fromEd Gein and instead toward the complex personal and professional relationship of Hitchcock and his wife, Reville, during the filming ofPsycho.
Much of the film's casting was announced in March 2012.Scarlett Johansson andJames D'Arcy played the stars ofPsycho,Janet Leigh andAnthony Perkins.[7] Later that monthJessica Biel was cast asVera Miles.[8] Additional cast members includedToni Collette as the director's trusted assistant,Danny Huston as screenwriter-playwright Whitfield Cook,Michael Stuhlbarg as powerful agent and studio bossLew Wasserman,Michael Wincott asserial killerEd Gein,Ralph Macchio as screenwriterJoseph Stefano,Richard Portnow asParamount Pictures bossBarney Balaban, andWallace Langham as graphic designerSaul Bass.[9][10]
Principal photography for the film began on April 13 in Los Angeles, with the film retitled asHitchcock.[11] Filming was wrapped up on May 31 after the completion of a scene set duringPsycho's New York City premiere on June 16, 1960.[12]
Danny Elfman composed the film's score.[13] Elfman had previously rerecordedBernard Herrmann's original score toPsycho in 1998 forGus Van Sant's1998 shot-for-shot remake.[14]
The soundtrack album to the film was released bySony Classical on December 14, 2012.[15]
Hitchcock had alimited release on November 23, 2012, for the film to contend duringOscar season.[16] The film had its world premiere as the opening film ofAFI Fest 2012 on November 1 with a gala atGrauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.[17][18]
Hitchcock was released onto DVD and Blu-ray on March 12, 2013, by20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The home media releases contain several making-of featurettes as well as a commentary between director Sacha Gervasi and author Stephen Rebello, a deleted scene, and the film's theatrical trailer.[19]
Hitchcock has earned an estimated $24.7 million worldwide.[4] During its opening on Thanksgiving weekend, the film debuted in 17 theaters and grossed an average of $16,924 per theater.[20]
Review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes gives an approval rating of 59% based on 214 reviews and an average rating of 6.19/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Though it suffers from tonal inconsistency and a lack of truly insightful retrospection,Hitchcock is elevated by inspired performances from its two distinguished leads".[21] OnMetacritic, the film has a score of 55 out of 100 based on 40 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[22]
Soon after thefilm's world premiere at theAFI Fest 2012, the first reviews ofHitchcock were published. Tom O'Neil ofThe Huffington Post wrote: "When the film unspooled at AFI Fest on Thursday night, the audience burst into wild huzzahs at the end. ThisHitchcock is so well made, so much fun and so suspenseful that it would make the original Hitchcock proud ... It's a serious contender forBest Picture,Lead Actor,Lead Actress,Adapted Screenplay,Makeup,Music Score, and maybeArt Direction".[23] John Patterson ofThe Guardian called the film "clever and witty"; "the making ofPsycho is depicted in detail without our seeing one frame of the completed movie" and concluding "it lives and breathes through Hopkins and Mirren".[24]
Upon its theatrical release, Mary Pols ofTime called the film "a feel-good frolic, which is fine for anyone who prefers their Hitchcock history tidied up, absent the megalomania, the condescending cruelty and tendency to sexual harassment that caused his post-Psycho blonde discoveryTippi Hedren to declare him 'a mean, mean man'".[25]Roger Ebert of theChicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review and felt that the film depended most on Helen Mirren's portrayal of Alma Reville, which he found to be "warm and effective".[26]
The Atlantic's Govindini Murty called the film "smart and entertaining" and also provided a cultural guide to the themes, personalities, and cinematic references in the film, fromGerman Expressionism to the paintings ofEdward Hopper.[27]
Many critics compared the film to theHBO biopicThe Girl, which was released a month earlier and detailed Hitchcock makingThe Birds andMarnie. Justin Chang ofVariety wrote that "the comparatively frothyHitchcock offers a more sympathetic, even comedic assessment of the man behind the portly silhouette".[28]Todd McCarthy ofThe Hollywood Reporter also made note that the film "brings a measure of authenticity entirely missing fromThe Girl". When writing about the film as a whole, McCarthy said, "Hitchcock might be a work of fantasy and speculation as much as it is history and biography, but as an interpretation of a major talent's inner life and imagination, it's undeniably lively and provocative".[29]
| Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Makeup and Hairstyling | Howard Berger,Peter Montagna andMartin Samuel | Nominated |
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Actress Defying Age and Ageism | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Actress | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
| Best Makeup and Hair | Nominated | ||
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association | Best Actress | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Motion Picture Actress – Drama | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
| Houston Film Critics Society | Best Score | Nominated | |
| London Film Critics Circle | British Actress of the Year | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
| Phoenix Film Critics Society | Best Actor | Anthony Hopkins | Nominated |
| Best Original Score | Danny Elfman | Nominated | |
| Saturn Awards | Best Independent Film | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Helen Mirren | Nominated | |
| Best Make-Up | Gregory Nicotero, Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Julie Hewitt | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards[30] | Best Actress | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
| St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association | Best Actress | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
| Best Scene | Anthony Hopkins in lobby conducting to music/audience’s reaction during “Psycho” shower scene | Won | |
| Washington DC Area Film Critics Association | Best Actress | Helen Mirren | Nominated |
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