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GREAT DIRECTORS

Hitchcock & Truffaut

You don't have to watch the entire Hitchcock catalog in order to recognize the genius of this director. But certainly, with repeated screenings the depth of his film making genius begins to sink in. Hitch's ability to create an entire movie in his head before casting it in celluloid was amazing. As you watch his films you become aware of a unique lexicon of filmic gestures that he draws upon to build suspense. His use of composition and subtle use of key props and mastery of this medium as a means of telling complex tails that spoke to people on multiple levels has never been matched.

Screenings

A good place to start is with a film that brings into play some many of Hitchcocks filmic gestures--and one of his key leading men, Jimmy Stewart:

Rope, 1948

To get a sense of where Hitchcock came from review his early work:

The Lodger (1926)

Blackmail (1929)

Murder! (1930)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Young and Innocent (1937)

Shadow of a Doubt (1943)

Notorious (1946)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

For many people the Hitchcock films of the 1950s are his defining works:

Dial M for Murder (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

The Wrong Man (1957)

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1955)

Vertigo (1958)

North by Northwest (1959)

Hitchcock never lost his touch. These films from the 1960s are a testament to his craft.

Psycho (1960)

The Birds (1963)

Marnie (1964)

Recommended Reading

Hitchcock - The Murderous Gaze, William Rothman

Hitchcock/Truffaut, Helen G. Scott and Francois Truffaut

Hitch: The Life And Times And Alfred Hitchcock, John Russell Taylor

A Hitchcock Reader, Marshall Deutelbaum and Leland Poague

Web Resources

Alfred Hitchcock The Master of Suspense
http://hitchcock.tv

Hitchcock Online
http://www.hitchcock.nl

Reading List

DAVID COOK
A History of Narrative Film

BRUCE KAWIN
How Movies Work

SURVEY FILM GENRES	SURVEY FILM AUTEURS	HISTORY of FILM SILENT CINEMA	HISTORY of FILM SOUND CINEMA
GENRE DOCUMENTARY FILM	GENRE HORROR FILM	GENRE CLASSIC WORLD CINEMA	GENRE NEW GLOBAL CINEMA	FILM & LITERATURE CHRIST IN FILM	FILM & LITERATURE DYSTOPIAN FILM
THE ART OF FILMMAKING SHORT FILMS & ANIMATION	THE ART OF FILMMAKING FILMS FOR FILMMAKERS	GREAT DIRECTORS HITCHCOCK & TRUFFAUT	GREAT DIRECTORS SCORESESE, SPIELBERG, COPPOLA	GREAT DIRECTORS KIELSLOWKI, von TRIER, TYKWER	GREAT DIRECTORS IGMAR BERGMAN