Hitchcocks Frenzy.

darkdubh

Saw this last night on BBC 2,the first time I've seen it in over 25 years.Hitchcocks second last film,his first set in London in nearly 20 years and probably the most violent and graphic.Interesting on many levels,not least the setting in Covent Gardens with the fruit and vegetable markets that Hitchs family were involved in.A couple of standout scenes,the uninterupted tracking shot which occurs during the second murder and the scene where the killer played by Barry foster tries to retrive an incriminating piece of evidence from the body of one of his victims in the back of a moving lorry.Interesting aray of familiar British character actors pop up in too,Clive Swift(Richard in Keeping Up Appearences),the guy who played the overbearing guest in the Hotel Inspectors episode of Fawlty Towers etc.

shazzerman

darkdubh wrote: »

Saw this last night on BBC 2,the first time I've seen it in over 25 years.Hitchcocks second last film,his first set in London in nearly 20 years and probably the most violent and graphic.Interesting on many levels,not least the setting in Covent Gardens with the fruit and vegetable markets that Hitchs family were involved in.A couple of standout scenes,the uninterupted tracking shot which occurs during the second murder and the scene where the killer played by Barry foster tries to retrive an incriminating piece of evidence from the body of one of his victims in the back of a moving lorry.Interesting aray of familiar British character actors pop up in too,Clive Swift(Richard in Keeping Up Appearences),the guy who played the overbearing guest in the Hotel Inspectors episode of Fawlty Towers etc.

Bernard Cribbins, who was a spoons salesman in Fawlty Towers (and did not expect to receive a bill...)
I think Frenzy is Hitchcock's last masterpiece. I read somewhere that that uninterrupted tracking shot (I think there is one disguised cut in there) makes the shape of a tie being tied - interesting if true, as it would align the film with Vertigo and Psycho and their obsession with shapes (the spiral motif in Vertigo, which infects the camera movement during the famous kiss, and the vertical and horizontal lines of Psycho).

Harry Palmr

I forgot this was on (saw it last year though, after years in some sort of purgatory Frenzy seems to be a BBC Two staple again), having read plenty of lukewarm reviews I was pleasantly surprised by its quality - mordant humour and a couple of great performances. Barry Foster never really had the career his talent demanded, nor did Jon Finch come to that.

SimonTemplar

I saw it a few months ago for the first time. "Lovely, Lovely, Lovely, Lovely, Lovely, Lovely" is seriously creepy!

darkdubh

SimonTemplar wrote: »

I saw it a few months ago for the first time. "Lovely, Lovely, Lovely, Lovely, Lovely, Lovely" is seriously creepy!

Jaysus,yes.That scene is very hard to watch.

darkdubh

shazzerman wrote: »

Bernard Cribbins, who was a spoons salesman in Fawlty Towers (and did not expect to receive a bill...)
I think Frenzy is Hitchcock's last masterpiece. I read somewhere that that uninterrupted tracking shot (I think there is one disguised cut in there) makes the shape of a tie being tied - interesting if true, as it would align the film with Vertigo and Psycho and their obsession with shapes (the spiral motif in Vertigo, which infects the camera movement during the famous kiss, and the vertical and horizontal lines of Psycho).

Yes thats him.Also spotted Michael Bates who played the prison warder who gives Alex a hard time in A Clockwork Orange,in Frenzy hes the detective intently watching Inspector Oxford eating his breakfast and has the line "Enjoying that Sir?"