Alfred Hitchcock—Master of the Surreal
Master of Suspense? Pfah! To truly grok what blend of darkness and light made Hitchcock’s films so beguiling and timeless, we need to think bigger. That’s where "Alfred Hitchcock: Master of the Surreal" comes in. This ongoing series of film essays takes you step-by-step through history to feel the warp of time and the weft of space, projecting you inside the cultural moments that sealed Hitchcock’s—and cinema’s—fate.
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Episode 1: The Backstory
Most know him as the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock could just as easily be dubbed Master of the Surreal. In Episode One of this ten-part series we go back in time to Hitch's origins. And then things get weird.
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Episode 3: The Poe Connect
Even as a teenager, Hitchcock was already flashing with promise. In this third step on our journey to discover Hitchcock's genius, we go back to those formative years, and the moment when he discovered his mentor from another century: Edgar Allan Poe.
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Episode 2: The Dada Effect
The Dadas were the original punk rockers. And they were by far the most outrageous art movement that ever walked the earth. Was Hitchcock one of the them? No, not really. But his films do have a certain... Dada audacity. Part 2 of our series explores the intersections between Hitchcock's films ...
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Episode 4: Poe's Big Bang
Lately, I’ve been stepping uninvited into Alfred Hitchcock’s movies, a time-traveling interloper, a Camusian stranger, a streetblown rando. And for my impertinence, I’ve been menaced by seagulls, had a gun pushed in my face and dropped from Lady Liberty’s own hand. Sure, it’s all been via special...
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Episode 5: Einstein vs. Bergson
In the early part of the 20th Century, two titans of modern thought—physicist Albert Einstein and philosopher Henri Bergson engaged in a years-long debate over the meaning of time. Hitchcock films touch on this debate and advocate for an elevated view of life, politics and human nature.
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Spellbound by L'Amour Fou
This documentary about Alfred Hitchcock’s 1945 surrealist thriller Spellbound goes off script when its director receives some unexpected news.
Spellbound (1945) achieved quick and lasting notoriety by means of its dream sequences designed by the great Surrealist Salvador Dalí. Ironically, howeve...
