Hitchcock/Truffaut Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Hitchcock/Truffaut
Year: 2015
Director: Kent Jones
Country: US
Language: English

If you have read my previous reviews, or consider yourself a "film buff" in anyway, then you undoubtedly must have heard of the great "Master of Suspense". Alfred Hitchcock, whose Vertigo made the best film of the prestigious Sight and Sound poll, is one of the most influential filmmakers to have ever lived. His influence on the motion picture industry remains to this day. Unfortunately in the early 60's he was viewed as merely an entertainer rather than an "artist". Francois Truffaut's book Cinema According to Hitchcock changed this notion and laid the groundwork for how we view cinema as an artform. 

In this documentary, filmmakers like Wes Anderson, David Fincher and Martin Scorsese discuss how Francois Truffaut's 1966 book Cinema According to Hitchcock influenced their work. 

Blending sound clips from the original audiotapes (in which Hitchcock and Truffaut are joined by the translator, Helen Scott) with selected moments from Hitchcock’s films as well as interviews with a rarefied handful of current-day directors, Kent Jones' picture is a typically made documentary that allows fans of Hitchcock to rejoice in their hero. It's a very one sided picture; there is no debate, Hitchcock is an "artist" in every sense of the word. 

Of course you would be a fool to debate the legitimacy of Hitchcock's contributions to the silver-screen. However, since the film is about Hitch's influence, I would have preferred less clips of Psycho, The Birds etc. and more clips from other artist's filmography.  Brian De Palma was greatly inspired by the man's films, yet we never analyze Dressed to Kill or Blow Out. We never analyze Truffaut's Soft Skin or the Hitchcockian methods of Martin Scorsese. The directors just say "he inspired all of our work". Ok...but how!?

The enormously popular films in Hitch's library take center stage of the picture, which is unfortunate for his early work & hidden gems. We see a lot of Rear Window (1954), but very little of the MUCH more influential The 39 Steps (1935). While Hitchcock/Truffaut isn't a bad picture, it isn't as insightful as I would have hoped. There are far better ways to dissect the man's genius; even an audio commentary would prove to be a greater method. .