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A review by christopherc
Hitchcock by Alfred Hitchcock, François Truffaut
5.0
By the early 1960s François Truffaut had made a name for himself through writing film criticism for *Cahiers du cinema* and then directing three films now recognized as cornerstones of the French New Wave. One of Truffaut’s idols at the time was Alfred Hitchcock, then considered a somewhat lowbrow director of thrillers. Truffaut wanted Hitchcock’s great craft and ingenuity to get the recognition they deserved, so in 1962 the French director sat down with his American elder for an in-depth interview covering all of Hitchcock’s work to date. The interviews were taped, a straightforward English transcript was produced (Truffaut, uncomfortable with speaking English, actually held the interview through interpreter Helen G. Scott), an enormous collection of film stills was assembled for illustration purposes, and finally the finished book was published in 1966. Later, after Hitchcock’s death in 1980, Truffaut published a second edition with a new chapter assessing Hitchcock’s late career.
This is the book that first introduced all kinds of cinematic concepts that we now immediately associate with Hitchcock like the "MacGuffin" and the difference between surprise and suspense. Decades later, it still merits its reputation as the bible of Hitchcock’s work, the “Hitchbook”, and any cinephile will have an expanded appreciation of Hitchcock’s work in general and particular films. The book is especially valuable for getting to grips with Hitchcock’s output in the silent era and early talkies, as these films are still so little-known compared to his later Hollywood works.
Though Truffaut and Hitchcock clearly want to discuss finer details of filmmaking, their discussion never gets dry or academic. Readers never have to wait long for Hitchcock to crack a joke, tell a funny story about problems on set, or mention an idea for a thriller that he would like to shoot someday. This book is one of the smoothest readers you will ever encounter in film studies.
About the only bad thing that can be said about Hitchcock/Truffaut is that its publication date of the 1960s leaves some traces that seem curious today. For example, Vertigo is now rated among the best films of the 20th century and readers would expect any book on Hitchcock to treat it as such. At the time of Truffaut’s interview, however, Vertigo was just one recent Hitchcock film among many, and readers may be disappointed by the coverage.
It must be said though that Truffaut’s appraisal of Hitchcock’s late work (in the new chapter in the 2nd edition) is mainly negative, and by the 1970s Hitchcock was suffering from dementia, so in hindsight it seems a good thing that the interview was held when it was. It allowed the two to go over the Hitchcock films recognized as the ones that really matter, and Hitchcock could still recall in great detail each production.
This is the book that first introduced all kinds of cinematic concepts that we now immediately associate with Hitchcock like the "MacGuffin" and the difference between surprise and suspense. Decades later, it still merits its reputation as the bible of Hitchcock’s work, the “Hitchbook”, and any cinephile will have an expanded appreciation of Hitchcock’s work in general and particular films. The book is especially valuable for getting to grips with Hitchcock’s output in the silent era and early talkies, as these films are still so little-known compared to his later Hollywood works.
Though Truffaut and Hitchcock clearly want to discuss finer details of filmmaking, their discussion never gets dry or academic. Readers never have to wait long for Hitchcock to crack a joke, tell a funny story about problems on set, or mention an idea for a thriller that he would like to shoot someday. This book is one of the smoothest readers you will ever encounter in film studies.
About the only bad thing that can be said about Hitchcock/Truffaut is that its publication date of the 1960s leaves some traces that seem curious today. For example, Vertigo is now rated among the best films of the 20th century and readers would expect any book on Hitchcock to treat it as such. At the time of Truffaut’s interview, however, Vertigo was just one recent Hitchcock film among many, and readers may be disappointed by the coverage.
It must be said though that Truffaut’s appraisal of Hitchcock’s late work (in the new chapter in the 2nd edition) is mainly negative, and by the 1970s Hitchcock was suffering from dementia, so in hindsight it seems a good thing that the interview was held when it was. It allowed the two to go over the Hitchcock films recognized as the ones that really matter, and Hitchcock could still recall in great detail each production.