Video Essays

I appreciate that. I look forward to your thoughts.



I see the point your making and I do agree that Hitch probably never would have been able to keep up fully with younger filmmakers given his age, but I also think your painting a bit broadly. Frenzy may not be doing much new from a social or psychological angle, but stylistically, I think it's pretty adventurous. Yes, the filmmakers you mention would quickly take a lot of Hitchcock themes and techniques and push them in far bolder ways, but I don't think it's fair to dismiss Frenzy outright. I doubt Hitch would have been able to produce any more stone cold classics after his golden age, but I do think had he remained in better health he could have remained a top-notch craftsman. Plus, who knows? Had he been in better health, maybe he would have been more apt to keep up with modern issues. Speculation on my part, obviously, but I don't think it's totally fair to just dismiss Hitchcock as old and out of touch.



I might consider doing a follow-up video at some point on this topic. I do agree that those movies do represent the last time Hitch was really relevant from a social perspective, it's a big part of why I consider Marnie part of the golden age despite some massive shortcomings, in my opinion.



Don't have anything to add, but this is really good analysis.



You're probably right, but would that be so bad? I'd have loved to get another ten years of expertly crafted thrillers. There's a reason why Frenzy, despite not being a particularly deep movie, is fondly remembered still, where the other three dark age films aren't. Also, given the resentment Hitchcock expressed in those quotes with Truffaut I cited, he may have also experimented with his basic techniques just to break free. Earlier, you said the experimentation of Frenzy was relatively minor - basically a Hitchcock film without the production code to deal with - but it was his only attempt at such a film. He may have pushed further with subsequent movies.

Anyway, great comment. You make a lot of excellent points, some of which I don't think I'd fully considered.



Thank you for saying so. It was fun to make despite how long it took.