My Movie Journal is Better Than Yours

Other Movies Seen By This Director (1)
- Red Riding: 1974

Notes History

Date Viewed	Venue	Note
07.20.13	DVR	HBO Movie about the Making of Hitchcock's The Birds and the director's obsession with Tippi Hedron. I forgot to log this so the date viewed is a rough approximation from memory. I liked it ok. When I was going through my Hitch phase and reading a bunch and watching all his movies, everybody was pretty apologetic and sympathetic toward Hitch as if to say "well, he's been married like 40 years, who wouldn't get turned on by a hot young blonde starlet?" but this movie was much more on Hedron's side, showcasing the mental and physical anguish that Hitch put her through during production and the ensuing career crush he did all because she didn't reciprocate his advances. I don't know to what degree all of this happened but I feel like Toby Jones' performance is extra villainous. Part of it comes from his voice, which I guess he went gravelly because his normal speaking voice is much higher than Hitch's, but also it's just kind of a heavy take on the guy where every movie contains malice. Also, Imelda Staunton's portrayal of Alma maybe isn't quite as strong as she needs to be. Maybe a tiny bit too mousey. Sienna Miller's Tippi was good though. I liked all the production stuff, the scenes where they're actually making the movie, but overall I didn't love this because it's just too negative. Even if all this stuff is true, Hitch's persona and body of work also contained a lot of lightness and humor. I guess I'm an apologist as well!