My Name is Alfred Hitchcock (2022) - Blu-ray Assessment

      My Name is Alfred Hitchcock, 2022.

      Directed by Mark Cousins.

      Featuring Alistair McGowan.

      SYNOPSIS:

      It's likely that devoted fans of Alfred Hitchcock will have varied and potentially conflicting responses to My Name is Alfred Hitchcock, a documentary by Mark Cousins that features Alistair McGowan mimicking the director’s iconic voice in a narration crafted by Cousins. Personally, I found it to be a compelling and insightful exploration of Hitchcock's extensive career. The film is now available on Blu-ray in the U.S., accompanied by a few bonus features.

      I admit to being a casual admirer of Alfred Hitchcock. As I mentioned in my review of the recently released Alfred Hitchcock: The Iconic Film Collection, I had not yet viewed Vertigo or To Catch a Thief at that time. However, I see myself as someone who is always eager to learn, and one motivation for writing these reviews is to deepen my understanding of a medium I have cherished since childhood. To me, movies have always held a certain enchantment (and as an enthusiastic reader, I don't mean to compare the two formats). Hence, I embraced the chance to experience Mark Cousins’ captivating documentary, My Name is Alfred Hitchcock.

      The film is intriguing because, instead of interviewing individuals about Hitchcock’s over 50 feature films (it's astonishing how prolific he was), Cousins opted to script a narrative where Hitchcock speaks about his films through the lens of six themes—escape, desire, loneliness, time, fulfillment, and height—using McGowan to deliver the voice-over in the director's style.

      Cousins describes himself as a Hitchcock enthusiast, which he states in a 26-minute interview with Chuck Rose featured on the Blu-ray, so one must trust his assertion that this is likely how Hitchcock would discuss his films today. My understanding is that he shaped his script from the numerous interviews Hitchcock gave throughout his life and the various biographies about him, while also taking some creative liberties with how he might address contemporary technology.

      The end product is a two-hour journey through the master's complete filmography, from his early silent films to his last project, 1976’s Family Plot, linking his works thematically, even those released years apart. (I don't recall any clips from his 1950s television series appearing in the footage.)

      As Cousins explains in the earlier interview with Rose, he viewed all of Hitchcock’s films during the COVID lockdown and selected his categories for the documentary by considering those films in less conventional ways. Notably, “suspense” isn’t included as one of the categories, even though it would likely be the first term many film buffs would use to describe Hitchcock's works.

      McGowan does a commendable job capturing the director’s distinctive British accent, although it can be jarring when “Hitchcock” comments on modern cell phones. I assume the insights provided about various Hitchcock films, including explanations for specific shot choices throughout the narratives, are grounded in either the director's own comments or interpretations from others regarding his creative choices.

      Ultimately, there may be additional artistic liberties taken beyond the references to modern technology, but that's a point for other Hitchcock enthusiasts to debate. I found this documentary to be both fascinating and enlightening.

      Aside from the previously mentioned interview, the extra features on this Blu-ray are rather limited. It includes an alternative version of the trailer narrated by Cousins (the original trailer with McGowan's voice-over is also present), a voice test with McGowan, animation tests for the film's graphics, and an introduction by Cousins to the films Notorious, Rope, and Saboteur. This last introduction appears to have been filmed for an event where those three films were showcased, potentially along with his documentary.

      Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★

      Brad Cook