Over 50 years ago, a masterpiece was created; A genius work
that pushed the boundaries of controversy and tested the limits of censorship
at the time. This film would last throughout the years and is still as shocking
today as it was to audiences in 1960. Psycho is commonly regarded as Alfred
Hitchcock’s greatest work. Sacha Gervasi’s ‘Hitchcock’ is a mostly factual
recount of the making of Mr Hitchcock’s magnum opus. The film follows Alfred
and his wife: Alma Hitchcock in their journey through self-funding, directing,
cutting and releasing Psycho. This movie also follows the inevitable strain put
on Alfred and Alma’s marriage, largely due to Alfred’s suspicious mind.
This film was a fun, colourful, humorous trip through a
major event in film history. The dialogue was well thought out and characters
were developed pretty much as well as can be expected. Anyone who knows the
story of Ed Gein will find the imaginary conversations between him and
Hitchcock amusing. Anthony Hopkins’ and Helen Mirren’s wonderful and convincing
performances were never in doubt, and on top of that, the rest of the cast
executed their acts delightfully. If there was one weak link in this film, it
is that it didn’t give as much detail as one would like. The existing material
was successful in its approach to showing the viewer the story of Alfred Hitchcock
creating Psycho, but needed more Tarantino-esque day to day dialogue and
stretching out of the plot.
Rating: 8.5/10
