The Unreliable Movie Guy

You see, simplicity and perfection are defining characteristics which so frequently occur in the reviews concerning Hitchcock's suspense and mystery movies. And indeed simple and perfect appears his ability to choose the best cast (Ray Milland, no murderer has ever had more charm), the best location (should it be just the living room of an elegant London apartment) and the best script - a' propos, asked by Peter Bogdanovich on the reason why he made Dial M, Hitchcock replied "When batteries are running dry, take a hit play and shoot it", the hit play being Frederick Knott’s. The shooting, for instance. The shooting moves around slowly, leading the spectator's eyes, yet as if it actually was the spectator's eyes, and each and every detail appears therefore even more realistic and at the same time more necessary. Overall, action is always truly simple, as life appears to be, but there it is, as Hitchcock used to say, mystery and suspense, in the shadow as in the sunlight, in the quiet London apartment next door as in a most charming villa of the French Riviera

Unfortunately, sometimes it appears to me increasingly hard to find a movie based on Hitchcock’s advice for simplicity, which most of the time is synonymous of perfection. I feel like it had been kind of forgotten by those who make cinema and, as a consequence, by those who watch it. Don’t worry, though. I don’t pretend to be Hitchcock’s hero. I just thought to dedicate this post to a very fine movie – which is the purpose of this blog indeed. And to tell you that if you don’t know what movie to watch, and you’ve never watched Dial M for Murder, this is the time. For, although Le Crime était presque parfait, according to the French title, Hitchcock’s movie is. Perfect.