This article was originally published in The Courier on 17th March 2018.
HITCHCOCK’S SHOWER
SCENE: 78/52: Saturday,
BBC Two
SIR BRUCE: A
CELEBRATION: Sunday,
BBC One
Alfred
Hitchcock’s Psycho is arguably the
first modern horror film. Released in 1960, it marked a paradigm shift from the
Gothic monsters of the first golden age of horror to a more brutal and
contemporary style informed by real-life serial killers: the Rosetta Stone of
slasher movies.
This
influential masterpiece is an indelible part of popular culture. There aren’t
many films that warrant a feature-length documentary devoted to analysis of one
scene, but there aren’t many scenes as memorable and exquisitely crafted as the
subject of HITCHCOCK’S SHOWER SCENE:
78/52.
The
title of this absorbing critique is derived from the 78 set-ups and 52 cuts
that were required to create just over three minutes of screen-time.
This
wordless assault of homicidal violence was directed by Hitchcock over the
course of seven days. He knew that a scene such as this needed extra attention.
It’s tempting to speculate that he knew he was creating cinema history.
Devoid
of narration and fittingly photographed in vivid monochrome, this authoritative
essay boasted contributions from an impressive roster of talking heads including
Bret Easton Ellis, Peter Bogdanovich (yes, he did his trusty Hitch impression),
Guillermo del Toro and Janet Leigh’s daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.
It
also featured wonderful insight from former Playboy
cover star and Leigh’s body double Marli Renfro, who revealed that she wasn’t
completely nude during the shoot but that she did have to strip down to her
underwear for Hitchcock and Leigh during her audition.
The
experts did a thorough job of placing Psycho
in historical and socio-political context, while examining its reflection of
various recurring Hitchcock themes.
The
film as a whole was subject to almost scene-by-scene analysis, with the lion’s
share naturally being dominated by a forensic study of the shower scene itself.
A masterclass in directing, editing and scoring – Bernard Hermann’s metallic
string attack is familiar to people who haven’t even seen Psycho – it’s fully deserving of its legendary status.
Hitchcock,
who appeared throughout via archive interview footage, always maintained that Psycho was intended as a dark, twisted
comedy, and it does indeed work on that level if you have a similarly mordant
sense of humour. But it also succeeds as a subversive and provocative work of
art.
This
superb documentary will, I suspect, become a key text in its legacy.
An
all-singing, all tap-dancing tribute to a showbiz legend, SIR BRUCE: A CELEBRATION was a variety extravaganza that the great
man would’ve approved of.
Hosted
by Tess Daly from the London Palladium, it showered praise upon an all-round
entertainer who made a difficult job look easy.
It
reinforced just how loved he was by the public and his peers. The likes of Russ
Abbot, Michael Grade, Declan Donnelley, Anton du Beke and former BBC Head of
Light Entertainment Jim Moir choked back their emotions as they eulogised a
genuinely nice man.
Highlights
included Shirley Bassey, her lung power undimmed, singing one of his favourite songs, Almost Like Being in Love, a delighted
Paul Merton recounting Brucie’s unforgettable stewardship of Have I Got News For You, and Ant/Dec
paying tribute to his peerless camera technique – that sly/baffled sideways
glance was one of the greatest weapons in his armoury – and winning way with
the general public.
He
carried it all off with such warmth and intimacy. The sheer skill with which he
wrangled fast-moving blasts of light entertainment was unique. Platitudes be
damned, we will never see his likes again.
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