3.5 // WHAT IS THAT MURDER SCENE. art + photo are fantastic
Une superbe rature du Grand Maître, qui s'est fourvoyé dans une histoire abracadabrante à laquelle, à aucun moment, on adhère vraiment... Dommage ! www.cinefiches.com
An off Hitch affair. The only real reasons to watch this are for the scene showing how hard it is to kill a man, and the utter lack of chem between Newman and Andrews. Newman tries his best with the material, but at times seems bored and disinterested. Not really his or Hitch's fault, just not a very compelling script. I give it 3 stars, bc even so so Hitch is worth a view. The recent Blu ray has a nice transfer btw
It's mostly like a relatively boring cold war movie is occasionally interrupted by a Hitchcock movie
marvellous first hour (including farmhouse scene) but the rest is worthless
Unfortunately, it's largely the tension between Newman's modernism and Hitchcock's classicism that drives the film, otherwise an uneven and underwhelming entry in the director's oeuvre. Hitchcock feels completely unmoved by the film's central relationship, and his lack of conviction sidelines Julie Andrews and fails to provide the motivation needed to drive its thriller elements.
I mean... the farmhouse scene is a direct influence on Inglourious Basterds, right?
Nothing but a failure from the Master. No wonder why this effectively killed his career.
Un gigantesco MacGuffin;alla fine partono i titoli e ti chiedi.e allora?!?!?!?!! La storia è solo un pretesto,si snoda attraverso set e scene affascinanti(il Museo di Berlino,l'Hotel,L'Università) e la mano di Hitchcock si vede nei momenti-chiave,come la grandiosa uccisione di Gromek ed il fantastico pezzo sul pullman.Qualche momento morto di troppo,ritmo blando,ma cmq ne viene fuori un buon lavoro di spionaggio.
I think that Hitchcock's concept was in the right place for this film, but many of its ideas feel halfhearted. Already at this point, there is a sense that his filmmaking style was out of touch with the direction Hollywood was heading, and there is a clear divide between Hitch's direction and Newman's acting. I wanted to love this movie but was frustrated by the results.
On the slyness meter, this goes to eleven. And I love Gromek's constant questions about America - he seems to be more in love with the country than its own citizens!
The justly famous farmhouse scene is one of Hitchcock's greatest accomplishments, and the rest of the film just can't come near that level of tension. There are moments of real skill, to be sure, but the really laughably bad rear projections and those appalling painted backdrops are just indefensible.
A series of Hitchcock set pieces but not a great Hitchcock film. It´s too artificial in its look and don´t tell me that the bad rear projections and the studio bound landscapes were intentionally poor...The killing of the German is the closest Hitchcock ever came to absurd theatre. With the ridiculous blackboard battle not far behind. All credits to Gromek!
Far from his best, but it still shows how good Hitchcock is. The first is a scene with an oven which is still gruesome and nerve wracking today. The other is a clearly intentional anti-climax, which is still tense, involving a bus. Only an Englishman like Hitchcock would make some thing as rudimentary like a bus into a vessel of danger in an absurd way.
very different to the other Hitchcock movies i know so far, but quite thrilling with a nice touch of fun - great entertainment.