The Key to Reserva

Key to Reserva, The (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Nine-minute short from Scorsese has him playing himself as he uncovers three and a half pages of an unfinished Alfred Hitchcock screenplay. Not much was known of this project but for fun Scorsese decided to film those pages and try to keep it as close to what Hitchcock would have done had he been directing it himself. If you're a fan of Scorsese or Hitchcock then this is a must see even though it's nothing more than an eventual product placement. It was great fun seeing Scorsese return to the short film because he certainly delivered the goods with not only his performance but his stab at directing like Hitchcock for those three and a half pages. The opening sequence, a homage to North by Northwest were just great as was the ending, which I won't spoil but it too is a homage to one of Hitch's most famous movies. Rear Window and Vertigo are also mentioned as is a joke about the lost portions of Greed. This film certainly isn't meant to be anything serious but it is a lot of fun for fans of the director.

"The Key to Reserva" is the most innovative piece of film-making I have seen for a long time. It was recommended to me by a fellow Hitchcock enthusiast but actually seeing it really blew me away. The plot was so unexpected and the execution by Scorsese, a master of cinema, was flawless. The moment I reached for my phone to tell my buddies about this masterpiece it started ringing anyway with my pals also wanting to spread the news! But now we all have the same question for Martin Scorsese: 'Will you please finish writing and shooting the film?' Yes, yes I know you can't emulate that other master, Alfred Hitchcock, but 'The Key to Reserva' can take on a life and indeed style. of its own with barely a backwards nod. This can be a winner in the right hands and Scorsese has shown that he has the magic touch and is just the man to do it. So, Sir, please take us out of our agony and say you will. From Tim Costello, Ireland.

Martin Scorsese goes to lengths at the start of The Key to Reserva to present it like it's buried treasure he's discovered; his enthusiasm seems genuine, even funny (i.e. when he goes on about if Hitchcock were alive he'd direct it, but he's not, so...) and then he presents what he's directed- missing pages from a few pages of script that were never shot by Hitchcock. But as the film unfolds, which seems like the greatest homage, as opposed to a real abandoned script, to the master of suspense ever made, there's the eerie feeling it is just that. I loved seeing Scorsese go into a kind of master's class demonstration of how to emphasize all of the obsessions, which were highlighted in the screenplay... And yet, it also seemed a little fishy. It wasn't until later on that a friend, who also saw the short, told me it was fake. Curses! And the birds at the end too were part of the gimmick I bet!

All kidding aside, it's a splendid tribute to Hitch, with a dastardly sense of timing with the scene at the opera, a strange amalgamation of the tensest of Hitchcock's grab bag calling to the likes of Sabateur (ironically, or just oddly enough, twenty years ago Dario Argento, a disciple of Hitchcockian suspense to a very-much Italian horror degree, had a sequence almost just like this one in his film Opera). Simon Baker plays the killer, and there's a timing to his movements that suggests something like perfect clockwork, a kind of divine madness that comes more out of technique then in storytelling. Then again, it's the story itself, however short, that brings it out as such. In the end it's all a big goof by Scorsese played on the audience, but a brilliant one, and he puts himself in the background knowing of his own persona in the process. Matter of fact, that's the real key to reserva, if you'll forgive the not-quite pun: process is the way it goes, be it timing a murder to an orchestration, or a dolly shot or crane move to just the right pitch.

And, of course, always with a knowing grin as with the master's best work... which reminds me, you'd never know it, but it's a wine commercial!

I have been a longtime fan and imitator of Alfred Hitchcock from day one. I opened up the file for "Key To Reserva" and I had to watch many times. As explained in the prologue, Martin Scorsese found some notes depicting a three minute scene from an unrealized Hithcock film called "The Key To Reserva". Scorsese decided to film the three minutes in the style of Hitchcock, basically the style of late 1950's Hitch ("The Man Who Knew Too Much", "North By Northwest", even "Torn Curtain") Not Marty style, Hitchcock style. Well, it was like Hitchcock came back from the grave (actually his ashes) and lensed this great piece. We have a hero in a blue business suit, ala Roger Thornhill, seek out a hidden key in an elegant theater box. It's pure Hitchcock, even down to the crazy Hitchcock logic (The key is hidden in a place that would be scientifically impossible. But we're watching Alfred entertainment us, not teach us.) Our villain hardly looks like a villain. He looks like anybody can mop the street with him, but watch it, still waters run deadly and deep. Throw in references to "Rear Window" "Notorious" "Saboteur" a Bernard Herrmann score, and you got one tasty cinematic snack!

From one Hitchcock fan to another: Bravo, Marty Scorsese! Given the task of producing a commercial for Freixenet Wines, the prominent director enthusiastically crafted an endearing homage to the Master of Suspense, in the guise of a "rediscovered" Hitchcock script. 'The Key to Reserva (2007)' is that very rare thing – an advertisement that is absolutely a joy to watch, so much so that you can easily ignore the advertising itself and consider the prized Freixenet wine-bottle just another of Hitchcock's unlikely MacGuffins. The film even tries to obscure the fact that it is merely a commercial, with Scorsese starring as himself in a documentary framing device that sees him excitedly boasting about his plans to film three fragmented pages from an unproduced Hitchcock script. One is hardly likely to fall for the ruse nowadays, but, when the short first emerged on the internet, I have no doubt that many people were swindled, even if the promise of Marty-doing-Hitch would have seemed simply too amazing to be true.

Scorsese's 'The Key to Reserva' opens with screeching violins over opening credits that might have been designed by Saul Bass. We fade into the strings of a violin, as a musician twangs vigorously at his instrument, and Scorsese pulls off a breathtaking crane shot – over the heads of the orchestra audience and into the entrance hall – that would have made Hitchcock proud. What follows is an exciting amalgamation of homages to the director's greatest set-pieces, including references to 'Notorious (1946),' 'Rear Window (1954),' 'The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956)' and 'Vertigo (1958)'… right at the end, there's also a very subtle nod towards 'The Birds (1963),' though you'll have to pay close attention! Hitchcock's film-making techniques are recreated in a slightly-exaggerated but nonetheless affectionate way, and Scorsese delights in exploring the singular stylistic touches - the spectacular long-shots, the overstated angles, the use of light and shadow to inform the audience that our oblivious hero is about to be confronted - that made the director such an influential figure in American cinema.

Some directors, such as Brian DePalma, have made a living out of homaging The Master of Suspense, but to witness one of cinema's contemporary greats expressing such gratitude towards Hitchcock is something else altogether. Scorsese even establishes himself as quite an entertaining actor, his self-portrayal occasionally touching on Woody Allen in terms of neurotic, boyishly-excited energy. Even long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker gets an appearance, adding another layer of authenticity to the ingenious framing device. Scorsese's film-within-a-film is almost completely wordless, undoubtedly following in the footsteps of a similar set-piece in 'The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956),' and that the story opens mid-stream adds a hint of tantalising ambiguity. But do you know what would be even better? Nothing would thrill me more than for Martin Scorsese to re-hire screenwriter Ted Griffin, expand these "rediscovered" pages into a feature-length treatment, and release 'The Key to Reserva' into cinemas by 2011. I'd be first in line, and nobody would be admitted after the opening credits.