78/52 : Les Derniers Secrets de Psychose

An unprecedented look at the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960), the "man behind the curtain", and the screen murder that profoundly changed the course of world cinema.

While it might seem like quite a feat to devote 90 minutes of coverage to a one-minute segment of a film, this documentary pulls it off. By exploring every possible angle -- the sounds, the editing, the casting -- we see just how much went into getting the notorious shower scene just right. Most interesting is how many clues are in the film leading up to this moment that may not be obvious, but were sprinkled there by Hitchcock with a knowing wink.

"78/52" is playing on July 20, 2017 at the Fantasia International Film Festival. In this golden age of documentaries, this film still stands out as the cream of the crop.

This film was really, really interesting. It felt like listening to a very knowledgeable docent dissecting and explaining a famous painting. In this case it's filmmakers sharing their admiration for "the shower scene." They take it apart frame by frame and geek out over it and give their insights. There's plenty of "Psycho" trivia (casaba melons, really?) and listening to the recollections of Janet Leigh's body double is just straight-up cool. (Anthony Perkins dropped her head on the floor!) You also get to learn about some of the themes and subtle artistic touches Hitchcock used...like the story behind the painting hanging on Norman's wall, and the rain Marion drives through portending the water in the shower. If you're a fan of Hitchcock, DEFINITELY check this out.

No it's not about any sport - if that was not included in the Box Set I bought I might not have known from the title alone what this would be about. But I reckon someone very knowledgeable about Psycho does know - if you don't or haven't seen Psycho: do not read on! And of course do not watch the documentary. Because the title of the documentary is of course something that is attached to a very special scene in Psycho.

And I'm talking about the shower scene. It may seem weird to make a documentary just about one scene in one movie (and it not even being the big twist at the end of the movie), but here it is. And it is a really good one. A lot of filmmakers and actors are in this and they talk about Psycho but also about Hitchcock in general. So you get some of his other movies mixed in here, while again primarily focussing on the shower scene. And it is a great one - still getting people excited or afraid. And when the actress from back then says she never showered again (true or not, only she knows), it's just amazing ...

Can you kill the protagonist of the movie 40 minutes into the movie? ? Do you need 78 camera positions and 52 editing cuts to film a scene? ? Does it make sense that a knife is more important than who holds it? All these questions will have their answer in this good documentary dealing with an unprecedented look at the iconic shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psicosis (1960), being well directed made by Alexandre, O. Philippe.

"Psycho" was not only Hitchcock's most successful film, but it was a phenomenon in itself and the highlight of the film is , of course , the shower scene with 78 shots and 52 cuts that changed cinema forever. The film is a masterpiece of the horror genre and its immediate impact and future influence were enormous and cannot be overemphasized, showing in detail the shower scene, the "man behind the curtain", and the screen murder that profoundly changed the course of world cinema. It is the quintessential shock that created a true subgenre about psychopaths and that continues to this day. The shower image is one of the most studied, copied and analyzed sequences in the history of cinema and has obtained a notoriety that surpasses the film itself. Alfred Hitchcock took his time filming the most famous shower scene in cinema. It was made with 70 cameras to shot the 45 seconds of footage and the creepy sound effects were realized by stabbing a knife into a melon. The film lasts just over three minutes but forever changed the history of cinema, inaugurating the modern horror genre in which the bad guy is a human with deep and twisted secrets. The shower was never a safe place in horror movies. And of course, the well-known poster designer and credit titles author by Saul Bass, he's usual on Hitchcock films . Saul Bass was the author of the storyboard, and Hitch took advantage of it in the early sixties with a strange and violent film starring and with the emblematic music of Bernard Herrmann. Without forgetting the magnificent performance by Anthony Perkins in an immortal role as Norman Bates and sensational Janet Leigh with Oscar nomination included that was the only one in her long career. Inventive and superbly constructed plot , filled with delicious black humor by writer Joseph Stefano based on Robert Bloch's novel.

Directors Guillermo del Toro, Karyn Kusama, Richard Stanley, Scott Spiegel, Mick Garris, Eli Roth, Neil Marshall, and Peter Bognadovich; Editors such as Walter Murch, Bob Murawski ; actors such as Elijah Wood, Ileana Douglas, Janet Lee Curtis, Janet Leigh's daughter; writer Brian Easton Ellis and composer Danny Elffman dissect the iconic shower scene, showing its meaning and significance in a tribute to the film of the master's best-known thriller.

¨Psycho¨was directed with exquisite taste and intelligence by master Hitchcock who made an impeccable control of every scene and maneuvering your emotions , infusing with a deliciously macabre wit , it does ¨Psycho¨ far superior to the several movies what tried duplicate , or imitate it. Furthermore 78/52 (2017) also pays tribute to other Hitch films with scenes from Easy Virtue, Rebecca, suspicion, Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, Foreign Correspondent, Lifeboat, The Rope, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Vertigo, The Man Who Knew Too Much, To Catch a Thief ,The Birds, Topaz , Frenzy and even the only non-thriller directed by Hitch: Mr. & Mrs. Smith, a film that is much loved by Guillermo del Toro .

78/52 (2017)

**** (out of 4)

The shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's PSYCHO lasted for less than a minute yet it took seven days to shoot. This wonderfully entertaining documentary takes a look at that minute worth of footage and breaks everything down from the score, to the edits, to the violence and certain things throughout the movie that foreshadows it.

78/52 is a highly entertaining documentary that fans of PSYCHO are going to really enjoy. A lot of documentaries (like the one on THE SHINING) are a bit far-fetched in their ideas but that's not the case here as everyone interviewed is basically a fan and we break the sequence down in so many ways that you'll be seeing things for the first time. I've seen this movie countless times in my life and yet I learned a few new things here.

The people interviewed include: Peter Bogdanovich, Jamie Lee Curtis, Guillermo del Toro, Alan Barnette, Justin Benson, Danny Elfman, Bret Easton Ellis, Jeffrey Ford, Mick Garris, Neil Marshall, Bob Murawski, Elijah Wood and Richard Stanley. We also get archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock, Janet Leigh and Joseph Stefano. Also interviewed is Marli Renfro who was Leigh's body double during the shower sequence.

The documentary does a really great job at showing how marvelous the sequence was. We get to watch it slowed down as well as getting comments on various edits, why the edits were done and countless other stories. This documentary covers a lot of ground in its running time and there's really not a weak moment to be found. If you're a fan of PSYCHO then I'm sure you've seen other documentaries on the sequence but this one here takes it to a new level.

Of course, one of the biggest highlights is having Renfro discuss how she got the part, what Hitchcock was like and how the shooting of the scene went. She was certainly a major player in this sequence so it was great getting to hear from her and get her stories.