Hitchcock

"Hitchcock" (2012) is a docudrama about Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma Reville during the period of time when he was making the classic horror movie "Psycho" in 1959.  The movie stars: Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Toni Collette, James D'Arcy and Scarlett Johansson.

This film tries to take you into the mind and life of master director Alfred Hitchcock (Hopkins).  In 1959, he was a very popular and influential director known for his mysteries and thrillers. He was yearning to try something different and came across the book "Psycho" about the infamous serial killer, Ed Gein. Hitchcock decides he wants to base his next movie on the book "Psycho" and jump into the horror genre - much to the dismay of the Hollywood establishment.  They just want him to pump out another of his movies based on his well established formula for success. Unable to obtain financial backing for "Psycho", Hitchcock decides to finance it himself by putting his family mansion up as collateral.   

 

What this film excels in is capturing the very close and somewhat bumpy relationship between Alfred and his wife Alma (Mirren).  We see the contradictions in their relationship, the comfortable closeness, the lack of intimacy and ultimately the close collaboration that they shared that made him a success.  Alma was once Alfred's boss on a movie set but later fell back behind his rather large figure to work in the background with him.  She helped him find the right movies to make, she had a keen eye for detail and editing movies to make them better and she was always her husbands constant supporter in all that he did.  She was the woman behind the famous man and you soon believe without her support he may not have risen to the level that he became known for. 

The making of the movie Psycho within this movie is also interesting to watch and see the new actors playing the title roles (Johansson as Janet Leigh and D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins).  It's very interesting to see how much Hitchcock had to fight to get this movie made and discover without the help of his wife Alma, it never would have soared to the heights it has.