BY SEAN EGAN | Alfred Hitchcock was not always considered an exceptional director, let alone one of the all-time greats. Indeed, critics and audiences saw him as more of a popular entertainer than a serious artist.
Much of the credit for rehabilitating his image from frivolous thrill-peddler to masterful cinematic artist goes to Francois Truffaut — the erstwhile French auteurist from Cahiers du Cinema turned New Wave director, who harbored a great deal of admiration and respect for the portly British filmmaker.
In 1962, following the release of such celebrated films as “The 400 Blows,” Truffaut contacted Hitchcock to arrange a week-long interview, in order to publish a serious review of Hitch’s oeuvre.
The result of this meeting between the two towering figures of film history — and the ostensible subject of the eponymous new doc from Kent Jones — was Truffaut’s “Hitchcock/Truffaut,” a book-length conversation that outlined Hitchcock’s creative process, ingenuity behind the camera, and outlook on the world.
Any semi-serious student of film is likely to know this book, which has become something of a sacred text for filmmakers — no less an authority than Wes Anderson pops up in the movie to admit to always having his beyond dog-eared copy (which he describes as just a stack of papers) with him while working on his own films.
The main problem with “Hitchcock/Truffaut” is that it’s not really about the monumental work at its center — in fact, it’s not even really about the relationship between the two directors. Mostly, it’s an excuse to trot out a plethora of impressive talking heads in order to gush about Hitchcock’s impact on cinema and influence on them — with some archival photos from the Truffaut interview sessions, excerpts from the book, and audio recordings of the chat brought out to supplement their comments.
For the type of film buff or scholar likely to get excited by a documentary brandished with the title of one of the most famous written works on film, “Hitchcock/Truffaut” provides very little in the way of information that would not be common knowledge to them, nor does it prod its notable interviewees to delve into Hitch’s work in critical or illuminating ways.
It seems doubtful that a casual Hitchcock fan, who might learn something from it, would have the drive to queue up a feature-length doc on the man (they’d do better to simply watch more of Hitchcock’s films, or pick up any of the excellent biographies or critial surveys of his work). Anyone looking for a more revealing look at Truffaut would best look elsewhere, as the treatment of his life and creative output is looked at quickly and cursorily, and his process in prepping for and editing the central book remains largely unexamined beyond “he did it.”
The movie, however, is quite enjoyable — a hagiographic fluff piece, but one of the highest order. It’s fun to see luminaries like Martin Scorsese, Richard Linklater and Peter Bogdanovich earnestly geek out about one of their favorite directors. David Fincher, in particular, is hilariously candid with his straight-shooting language and dry sense of humor when expressing his admiration (and debt to) Hitchcock.
At a sprightly 80 minutes, “Hitchcock/Truffaut” doesn’t overstay its welcome, and integrates its film clips and archival material seamlessly. Still, for a man whose literary adaptations (“Rebecca,” “Psycho,” “The Birds”) repeatedly defied the axiom “the book is better than the movie,” it’s disappointing that Jones couldn’t produce a documentary that followed suit.
“Hitchcock/Truffaut” runs 80 min. Written by Kent Jones and Serge Toubiana. Directed by Kent Jones. Through Dec. 15 at Film Forum (209 W. Houston St., btw. Sixth Ave. & Varick St.). Call 212-727-8110 or visit filmforum.org.
