I can think of very few filmmakers that I treasure more so than Alfred Hitchcock. It was his film that left likely the most indelible images in more brain. Like I'm sure so film fans, he was my first true introduction into film. He was the first filmmaker that I could spot and think of, "that's a Hitchcock movie, that's a Hitchcock thing," before I knew of such things like auteurs. From tone, from style, from mood...you can pick out a Hitchcock movie above anything else. That his identity (and celebrity) informed his films made that easier to pick up upon as a child, but is was his artistry and sheer graceful gravitas was there throughout his entire career. That his films were perceived as mere populist trifles back in their time seems ludicrous, but understandable, since it takes time for genius to get its proper due.
On that note, there isn't a film coming out in the near future that makes me more queasily anxious than 2013's
Hitchcock, which tells the tale of the famed director as he was shooting his most infamous film,
Psycho. Directed by Sacha Gervasi, who made a slight impression a few years back with his critically acclaimed documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil. It will open, courtesy of Fox Searchlight, sometime next year...till then I worry! The cast list includes:
Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock. The first still of the barely begun production movie surfaced today and it appears that at the very least, the make-up department is doing a fine job. It's and interesting side note that
Psycho is based on the tale of the real-life Ed Gein (somehow put into the film itself, being portrayed by stage actor Michael Wincott), the same figure that was the source for other films and mythologies including
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and
The Silence of the Lambs (which won Hopkins an Oscar for his iconic performance as Hannibal Lector; small world.) Helen Mirren portrays his wife Alma.
Scarlett Johansson will play Janet Leigh
James D'Arcy (W.E.) will play Anthony Perkins
Jessica Biel will play Vera Miles
And the rest of the cast will be rounded out by Toni Collette, Danny Huston, Wallace Langham, Michael Stuhlbarg and Kurtwood Smith. The film was written by Stephen Rebello (author of the novel on which the film is based on) and John J. McLaughlin (
Black Swan.) What do you think of the casting? Is anyone else geeking out of their minds?
I have to calm down about this for a whole year.......
