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Do You Like Hitchcock?

I've just finished watching Dario Argento's latest film, the TV movie Do You Like Hitchcock? (thanks to Thomas for sending me a copy from Danish TV). As is always the case with Argento's films, opinions have been split right down the middle. So far, I don't think anyone has called it a masterpiece, but many have labelled it a complete failure. As usual, you'll have to watch the film for yourself to make up your mind about it, but as far as I am concerned, it is most decidedly not a failure. Hitchcock is an insubstantial film, but it's a very enjoyable one.

The most striking element of the film is its fluid cinematography. The camera goes everywhere, and during the night scenes, Argento plays with light, shadow and colour in much the same way as he did during his golden period in the late 1970s and early 80s. During the day scenes, the cinematography looks a little flatter, and comes to resemble more closely Non Ho Sonno. In a sense, though, that's not really a fair comparison, as to my eyes Hitchcock is a much more visually impressive product. A handful of dodgy video edit effects do show up the film's low budget and made for TV origins, but overall I was struck by how much like a theatrical movie it looked. Oh, and contrary to the rumours I have been hearing, it was in fact shot on film, not digi-beta.

This is a slower-paced film than many that Argento has directed, and the scale is smaller, but this isn't a bad thing, as it allows him to explore his characters more and even indulge in some comedy moments. It doesn't always work, true, but a number of exchanges are pretty amusing, including an angry exchange between Giulio and his girlfriend Arianna, which involves them each punctuating their sentences by opening or closing the elevator door. That scene made me laugh out loud, which is not a reaction I often have to Argento's attempts at comedy. The performances are good across the board, although the dubbing doesn't do it any favours (more on that later). In particular, I was impressed by Elio Germano (Giulio), Elisabetta Rocchetti (Sasha) and Cristina Brondo (Arianna).

Overall, Do You Like Hitchcock? is far from the best thing Argento has ever directed, and it continues in much the same vein of "good but not great" that characterized his two previous films, Non Ho Sonno and The Card Player. Still, if you got any enjoyment out of them, I would think you'll like Hitchcock. The maestro has still got it.

7/10

PS. The version I saw was the English dub rather than the Italian variant, which is essentially both good and bad. The good part is that the dialogue fits with the actors' lip movements. The downside is that none of them have their own voices - the dubbing was done in London and at times sounds completely ludicrous. That's part and parcel of Argento's films, I suppose, but I had hoped, after he got such good results from his leads in The Card Player, that he would be moving more in the direction of using production sound. Ah well.

11:25