Check It Out!
Posted April 26th, 2008 by adminIf you love Alfred Hitchcock movies, then you will find the interview with David Sterritt, new on the Simply Charly Interviews site, absolutely fascinating. David Sterritt is currently Chair of the National Society of Film Critics, as well as an Adjunct Professor at the School of the Arts at Columbia University. He has written many books and penned many film reviews and his knowledge of Hitchcock and what drove him to do the things that he does is well-researched and thought-provoking.
During the interview, David Sterritt points out many interesting facts about Hitchcock and his movies. In response to the question of why Hitchcock always appeared in his own movies, David had this to say:
“Hitchcock was a first-rate promoter and marketer, and one of his best tools was to make himself a celebrity by showing up in all sorts of ways…”
David also intimates why Hitchcock movies were different from others of the same genre:
“He took crime and violence out of the shadows and into the light of day, showing that mayhem doesn’t break out only in dark alleys and dens of iniquity…”
In the interview, David also lists contemporary directors who have been influenced by Hitchcock’s vision and techniques:
“The world champion of Hitchcock imitators is Brian De Palma…David Lynch was obviously influenced by Hitch in pictures like Mulholland Dr. and Blue Velvet, and Gus Van Sant paid Psycho a compliment by directing a faithful (and pointless) shot-for-shot remake.”
Click on the link above to read more of this insightful interview with David Sterritt…you will definitely feel the love and admiration he has for Hitchcock films, and may even be prompted to go out and rent one to see what the chatter is all about!
Happy learning!
I can’t wait to read this; what I really want to see is if they address the rumor that his wife was pulling many of the strings behind the scenes. It would cast some interesting new light on a number of his films.
Comment by maculate — April 3, 2009 @ 8:28 pm
Interesting rumor about his wife. I hadn’t heard that before. I an going to have to read the interview as well to see if they talk about that. I also am interested in knowing if Hithcock had any particular sources which influenced his work. It was so original at the time that I wonder what his thinking was.
Comment by Bobcat — April 4, 2009 @ 3:19 pm
I know he studied and worked in Germany in the early decades of the 1900s, and I can see how he picked up lighting techniques in particular from that. What I really love about him is how different what he was doing in his early career was from a) his British contemporaries and b) his later work.
Comment by maculate — April 10, 2009 @ 9:13 pm