Hitchcock, Truffaut, and the Irresponsible Audience

Abstract

In the beginning of his opulently mounted interview with Hitchcock,* Frangois T ru f f au t writes that Hitchcock has always feared technicians who might jeopardize the integrity of his work. But in this definitive study (to cite the dustjacket) Truffaut's own approach is so doggedly technical, so intent on style as opposed to meaning, that one wonders if the feared technicians haven't come in by a rear window after all. The interview is an anatomy of Hitchcock's work that shows little sense of what technical methods signify, or what stylistic devices express. Truffaut draws back from any exploration of the psychological depths of either Hitchcock himself or the movies Hitchcock has made. Hitchcock makes many leading remarks about his themes and methods that Truffaut glosses over. Hitchcock reveals fascinat ing shards of his psychological nightlife, but Truffaut only alludes to the dark area of voyeurism, exhibitionism, and fetishism that Hitchcock's films explore; he is too interested in showing his own knowledge of plot and technical details to go any further. And because of his lack of interest in the psychological dimensions of Hitchcock's films, Truffaut misses how Hitchcock in his best films manipulates the deepest reactions of his audience.