78/52

Description

Taking a deep dive into Hitchcock’s shower scene in Psycho (1960), director Alexandre O. Philippe marshals a splendid assemblage of commentators and footage to discuss its lasting effect. Beginning with Janet Leigh’s stand-in Marli Renfro and including directors (Peter Bogdanovich, Guillermo del Toro, Eli Roth), editors (Walter Murch), composers (Danny Elfman), and actors (Elijah Wood, Jamie Lee Curtis), 78/52 dissects the technical mastery of the sequence, some of its surprises and revelations, and why it continues to affect people to this day. Philippe also offers fascinating behind-the-scenes details, whether it’s a look at Saul Bass’s storyboards, how DP John Russell achieved certain camera angles, or the specific kind of fruit used to make those squishy stabbing sounds. Tribute is also paid to Bernard Hermann’s unforgettable arpeggios that punctuate the murder. One ingenious overarching conceit has Philippe putting many of his interviewees in a setting much like the Bates Motel with an old-fashioned television where they can watch and comment on poor Marion Crane’s demise. Between the wisdom, insight, and humor of those interviewed and the continued shock value of what happens in that motel bathtub, this film shows how 78 set-ups and 52 cuts can add up to what is arguably the most influential scene in cinema. —Rod Armstrong

Film Details