Hitchcock/Truffaut

Hitchcock/Truffaut (2015) / Kent Jones. In 1962, François Truffaut, 30, already a well-known film critic and essayist for Cahiers du Cinéma and budding filmmaker with three highly regarded films to his credit, wrote a letter to Alfred Hitchcock in America asking for an extended interview opportunity that would explore Hitchcock's movie output in detail. To everyone's surprise, Hitchcock wrote back at once agreeing to the idea. Truffaut came to Los Angeles and met with Hitchcock on the Paramount lot every day for a week. His conversations with Hitchcock, through a translator, were recorded. In 1966, Truffaut published his book, “Hitchcock” (often know as “Hitchcock/Truffaut”) and quietly began a revolution in how people watched movies. Alfred Hitchcock was a very well-known celebrity at the he sat down with Truffaut. “The Master Of Suspense” was his sobriquet; he was a household name and face via his successful TV series, “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” which he hosted with a charming dry wit. But a “serious filmmaker”? You gotta be kiddin'. Truffaut's book changed all that. Suddenly all the new young filmmakers who would start making their mark in the 1970s' (such as Martin Scorsese) began studying Hitchcock's films. We see several directors, including Marty, Olivier Assayas, Wes Anderson, Richard Linklater, David Fincher, and others, comment on and appreciate Hitchcock's accomplishments. The longest commentaries are on “Vertigo” and “Psycho.” It is wonderful hearing these directors talk about their favorite moments and how they were created. One of them, I think James Gray (The Yards, Two Lovers), says that Judy's final transformation in “Vertigo” was “the greatest shot in movie history.” (In case you don't know what this is, it comes at about 1:33 in this clip:

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tesqTwX7cpc.

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