Sacha Gervasi’s ‘Hitchcock’ explores the psychology of ‘Psycho’

The story behind Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock’s most popular movie and a cinematic masterpiece, has a good deal of drama built into it. Once he decided he would adapt Robert Bloch’s gruesome book into a film, the esteemed director went to great lengths to keep its surprise ending a secret. He even bought the remaining copies of the novel so that the public would have trouble finding the book on shelves.

Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock attempts to dramatize what was going on behind-the-scenes while the movie was being made. To that extent, it’s an interesting look at a significant moment in cinematic history. Gervasi (Anvil: The Story of Anvil) also tries to provide some insight into what Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) was like as a man, examining his treatment of two leading ladies and taking an intensive look at his relationship to his wife Alma (Helen Mirren). Here, the film stumbles a bit as the melodrama fails to really strike a chord. The jealousy and tension between the couple comes off as trivial and seems more suited to a soap opera than a serious biopic.

Wearing prosthetics that elongate his face, Hopkins largely looks the part. (His eyes gave away the 14 years he has on Psycho-era Hitchcock, who was only 60 at the time.)  He also adopts the man’s stature as well, slouching a bit so that his padded gut looks quite enormous, something about which his wife regularly nags him. And he speaks in a very deliberate, nuanced manner. At the film’s start, “Hitch,” as he’s affectionately called, is in the process of deciding upon the subject for his next film. He wants something edgy and different to prove he’s still relevant and on top of his game.

Intrigued by a newspaper item about Wisconsin serial killer Ed Gein, he then turns to Bloch’s book about the guy and hires screenwriter Joseph Stefano to provide the adaptation. Gervasi effectively creates a certain amount of excitement and intrigue regarding the creative process. He portrays Hitch as a real artiste who gets something in his creative craw and won’ t let it go. But Gervasi also goes a little too far in depicting Hitch’s obsessive qualities, and dream sequences in which Hitch converses with the inspiration for his film seems like an unnecessary device that detracts from the story’s development.

It’s hard not to compare this film to HBO’s The Girl, another look at Hitchcock  (also adeptly portrayed by Toby Jones) and his leading lady in The Birds—Tippi Hedren (Sienna Miller). In that depiction, the master of suspense wasn’t quite as quirky and vulnerable. The Girl revealed Hitchcock to be manipulative, self-centered and emotional abusive. The truth of his character probably lies somewhere in between. But his vision as a filmmaker and his right to the title of “master of suspense” is undisputed.