Butler's Cinema Scene

Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut

“HITCHCOCK / TRUFFAUT” My rating: B+ (Opens Feb./ 27 at the Tivoli)

79 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

By now it’s an article of faith among film lovers that Alfred Hitchcock was far more than a mere maker of suspense movies.

He was a true cinema genius who used the medium to plumb the depths of his own soul, his phobias, his impish sense of humor.

There’s no shortage of film-themed documentaries that have dealt in some way with Sir Alfred and his career, but “Hitchcock / Truffaut” introduces a new element by allowing Hitch to comment on his movies.

In 1965 French NewWave filmmaker Francois Truffaut sat down with his idol in an office at the Universal Studios in Hollywood. For an entire week they talked movies, aided by a translator.  The result was Truffaut’s classic 1966 book Hitchcock by Truffaut. 

Fifty years later the audio recordings that were the basis for that book have been utilized by filmmaker Kent Jones for this documentary.

Jones has also drawn on talking-head interviews with fellow filmmakers (and Hitchcock fanatics) like Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Richard Linklater, Peter Bogdonovich, Wes Anderson, Olivier Assayas and others.

And of course the doc is crammed with clips from Hitch’s films, still photos and behind-the-scenes footage.

There really aren’t any new revelations here, at least not for those already bitten by the Hitchcock bug.

But for casual movie watchers who may not understand what the buzz is all about, “Hitchcock / Truffaut” convincingly makes the case that Hitchcock’s radicalizing influence has trickled down through the works of several generations of filmmakers.

The film also does a nice job of personalizing Hitch, who despite his public persona appears to have been a pomposity-free sort of fellow.

And along the way the movie provides a lovely appreciation of Truffaut, who died in 1984 and, despite his towering presence in world cinema, is today virtually unrecognized by everyday movie watchers.

Special kudos to editor Rachel Reichman and composer Jeremiah Bornfield, whose string-quartet stylings are simultaneously classy, dramatic and ethereal.

| Robert W. Butler