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78/52: Hitchcock's Shower Scene
The screeching strings, the plunging knife, the slow zoom out from a lifeless eyeball: in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho changed film history forever with its taboo-shattering shower scene. With 78 camera set-ups and 52 edits over the course of 3 minutes, Psycho redefined screen violence, set the stage for decades of slasher films to come, and introduced a new element of danger to the moviegoing experience. Aided by a roster of filmmakers, critics, and fans--including Guillermo del Toro, Bret Easton Ellis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Eli Roth, and Peter Bogdanovich--director Alexandre O. Philippe pulls back the curtain on the making and influence of this cinematic game changer, breaking it down frame by frame and unpacking Hitchcock's dense web of allusions and double meanings. The result is an enthralling piece of cinematic detective work that's nirvana for film buffs.
17 March 1910, Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA
15 January 1893, Cardiff, Wales, UK
2 February 1974, New York City, New York, USA
8 November 1914, Jersey City, New Jersey, USA
15 July 1910, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
23 November 1887, Camberwell, London, England, UK
21 March 1968, Brooklyn, New York, USA
17 April 1959, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, UK
22 November 1966, Fishhook, South Africa
12 July 1943, New York City, New York, USA
4 November 1919, The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
14 February 1902, Brooklyn, New York, USA
9 June 1983, San Diego, California, USA
25 March 1897, Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, UK
November 16, 2017
The calibre of interviewees and the level of their insights in Alexandre O. Philippe's film is on the distinctly variable side, closer to one of those I Love... nostalgia-fests that are used to pad out the television schedules than to something valuable.
November 05, 2017
That a sequence depicting voyeurism should have drawn such myopic scrutiny is an irony not lost on the film-makers. The documentary's dedication reads: "To mother." Very droll.
November 07, 2017
A fascinating look at the most fascinating moment in what is arguably the most fascinating movie in the Hitchcock catalog.
December 29, 2017
78/52 is both a loving tribute to the work Hitchcock did as well as a sharp, enlightening lesson in what makes Psycho so special.
November 09, 2017
Call it a primer in film criticism and analysis, as well as a testament to Alfred Hitchcock's mastery of form...
October 13, 2017
Alexandre O. Philippe's close reading of the Psycho shower scene is as refreshingly fun and perceptive as his documentary's name (referring to Alfred Hitchcock's 78 camera setups and 52 edits over three violent minutes) is eggheaded and clinical.
December 10, 2017
Who doesn't remember where he was when Leigh shed black bra and slip, unwrapped a bar of complimentary Bates Motel soap, and washed away her sins? ... Unfortunately doc's scholarship feels sketchy, arbitrary.
November 16, 2017
Philippe's geekiness is infectious. His passion for film shines through most when he invites some of his interviewees-like horror nerd Elijah Wood and his friends-to watch the film on camera and comment on its foreshadowing and subtle motifs.
October 13, 2017
Essential viewing, even if you have to watch through your fingers.
October 13, 2017
78/52 is an orgy for movie obsessives. It makes you see the familiar with fresh eyes.
October 19, 2017
Obsessive but accessible, the deepest dive imaginable into one of the most celebrated scenes in movie history, the documentary "78/52" looks at a brief three minutes of cinema the way it's never been looked at before.
November 09, 2017
Hitchcock's shower scene may never leave the pop culture of fear it helped create.
