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Film: Do You Like Hitchcock? (Ti piace Hitchcock?)
Year: 2005
Director: Dario Argento
Writer: Dario Argento and Franco Ferrini
Starring: Elio Germano, Chiara Conti and Elisabetta Rocchetti
Review:
This is an interesting made for television film by Dario Argento. This is also the only made for TV film he’s done as to date. This is another foray into the giallo genre for him as well. The official synopsis is: A college film student, obsessed with the works of Alfred Hitchcock, investigates a murder committed in the apartment building across from his and suspects that his seductive neighbor hired a girlfriend to commit the deed.
I want to lead off stating that Argento is one of my favorite directors. This film though is lacking a bit. The story is interesting in that he has combined elements of a few different Alfred Hitchcock films. I do believe that Argento is considered to be the Italian Hitchcock, so it is cool to see him paying homage. I won’t share the films he is referencing as if you’ve seen them, that could spoil this film for you. I did find this aspect of the film to be interesting.
What I didn’t like about the story was that it doesn’t do well in making me connect with the characters. It starts off with a small boy as he sees two women in the woods go into a house. They sacrifice a chicken, it splatters blood everyone and the boy freaks so they chase him. This really has nothing to do with the story, except establishing that the boy grows to be Giulio (Elio Germano) our main character. It informs us that he is a peeping tom. What I don’t get about this, he has a smoking hot girlfriend, Arianna (Cristina Brondo), but he is much more worried about the woman in the apartment across from him and the murder that happens there.
This leads me into the acting of the film. I don’t buy that Giulio would be dating Arianna. Not just because of his looks, but he is kind of a jerk and a nerd. I did like that he is a huge film buff as I am as well. Arianna was cute and I thought she did a fine job in her role. The other two ladies are interesting in their own ways as well. Sasha Zerboni (Elisabetta Rocchetti) is the neighbor who lives with her controlling mother. Giulio catches her talking to Federica Lalli (Chiara Conti) and then he follows her. She is caught up in a situation with her boss that bothers her. It is interesting we get to see these three women nude. The rest of the cast does round out the film okay. None of them are great.
One thing I noticed for this film that is different from many Argento films is that there is very little blood or gore. I think that is probably because it was made for television. We do get a little bit of blood, but not a whole lot. Because of that, there isn’t much in the way of effects. There are some good shots that Argento is known for, but it doesn’t look as crisp as many of his films either.
The score of the film is another thing that was lacking in my opinion. It doesn’t stand out like his classic films. I actually didn’t even notice if there was music until the ending with a song that I thought harkened back to older Argento films. I thought that was a good touch, but I wanted more there.
The editing of the film does build tension to the climax, but I think the story is lacking in the writing department so I wasn’t engaged as much in it. I did find the editing of the aspects of different Hitchcock films was a good though for sure. It was also interesting to reference back to the Giulio’s childhood to connect it through dreams and to other things he is doing. I just wanted a little more in this department as well.
Now with that said, this film isn’t horrible. I do feel that it is a very average giallo film. The story was interesting in combining a few different aspects of Hitchcock films into one. I wasn’t overly engaged in the film though. I thought the acting from the three female stars was good, but they don’t get nearly as much time as our male lead. I didn’t find him to fit the role very well though. There aren’t a lot in the way of effects, but we do get some good shots. The editing of the film does build tension just not enough. I think this falls more on the writing. The score of the film was lacking. It never took me out of scenes so that was good at least. I just was disappointed this was an Argento film which has much better scores. With that said, I found this film to be average. It is enjoyable if you are a giallo, Argento or Hitchcock fan.
My Rating: 5 out of 10