Friday the 13th a Fitting Birthday

Today marks the birthday of my favorite director of all time, Alfred Hitchcock. I felt that it was only fitting to post something here about him and why he holds that special place in my heart. I always say that if I could be anyone I would want to be Hitchcock. (I mean without the baldness and belly) It is because his fearlessness in the industry and his drive to discover new techniques and ways of telling a story that movies are the way they are today. He is not the master of suspense because he can scare you out of your witts, but because he created the suspense in films as we see it today.

He experimented with editing, camera movements, and sounds to stir up the emotions of the audience. These techniques would show the audience what the characters were seeing. They were no longer just observers but part of the action. His goal was to create a real fear and suspense in his audience. He succeeded over and over again. One of my younger sisters was watching The Birds (1963) with me today and was commenting on how silly idea of birds attacking was. As soon as we reached the scene where Melanie walks into the room full of birds, my sister was saying, "No don't! Were is a pillow? I need to cover my eyes!" No matter how silly she thought the idea of the movie was, she had begun to feel the fear that this family was experiencing.

Trying new things in the film industry is always a scary thing, but true film making is an art and every film maker should experiment no matter how terrified of failing they may be. What is so amazing about Hitchcock is that he was never afraid to experiment. This was his art and he wanted to try new things. One of my most favorite of all Hitchcock's films is Rope. Rope was the first time that a movie had been done without any cuts or edits. It is as if you where watching a play. It is extremely fascinating to see. The amount of work and preparation that had to go into making that film on both the producing end and the acting end is something that I admire. This is one of his films that I feel is underrated. Only those that appreciate film as an art form could truly see this movie for what it was; the never ending push in film to see what you can do and then push beyond that to tell an interesting story that loses your audience and at times gives them something to really ponder later on.

I could go on for hours and hours about the genius that is Hitchcock, but I will stop here for today. There are not many directors today that I feel can do what Hitchcock has done. M. Night has made gallant efforts in his films (many take direct omage to Hitchcock) and I respect him for that. Christopher Nolan takes risks, tries new things, and has never made a movie that was not enjoyable. For me these are the two modern day directors that keep the spirit of Hitchcock alive in modern cinema. I hope that he would be happy!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SIR ALFRED HITCHCOCK!