True Best Movie: Alfred Hitchcock
In last week’s post:
Are the movies in that list even the best of their directors? Would you really say that Vertigo is the best Hitchcock’s film?
I’m sorry, it’s too tempting, I’m gonna chew on this in the next few posts.
So let me introduce our two companions in this journey :
- the Usual Best Movie (UBM)
- the True Best Movie (TBM)
The UBM is exactly what it says it is.
When you name this director, you’ll get that movie. Always. Almost always. Way too often. Well, at least, considering some other movies he’s made. But, for some reason, an epic shooting, a tragic death, an amusing trivia, a loud and steady cult among generations of fans, that movie is always on top.
That’s where the TBM gets in.
In the shade, a movie waiting for recognition from that same director. Less spectacular, less important, less you-name-it. But so much better in your humble opinion. If you were in a Youtube comments section, you’d probably be saying something like “best underrated movie ever”.
So, back to Hitchcock.
Classic uchronic cinephilia in action.
Their world against mine (ours, if you want).
UBM: Vertigo (or Psycho or North By Northwest or The Birds)
TBM: Notorious
Notorious:
- A movie with Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains
- An absurd situation, so absurd it could be a weird Lubitsch comedy. A beautiful woman in between a nazi sincerely in love and an american spy who doesn’t seem to be
- Probably the most complex romantic movie of Hitchcock, where the feelings of the characters are not just a layer on top of drama, they’re the heart of drama
- A movie written by the unbeatable Ben Hecht
Notorious.
True Best Movie from Hitchcock.