78/52

I didn't believe it would be possible to make a feature-length documentary revolving around a single scene from another film, even though it was one of the most fundamental scenes in world cinema. And lo and behold, it works! It’s also very brisk, amusing and real. The film is an excellent, detailed analysis, practically overwhelming the viewer with information, and for cinephiles, it also fulfils the role of content-bloated material suitable for studying Hitchcock's genius and sophistication, which one cannot help but marvel at. If director Philippe really wanted to shoot more documentaries of a similar type, I would love it. Bring ‘em on! (11.07.2017)

Composed of 52 shots and lasting 78 seconds, this geeky detailed analysis of one of the most famous movie scenes ever. The analysis is done not just in terms of the technical aspect of filmmaking, but also focuses on its historically social and cinematographically revolutionary impacts. It contains commentary from dozens of movie personalities and excerpts from dozens of other films. You think the runtime is too long? On the contrary, the pace of the film almost requires repeated viewing to get all of the information in certain areas. When people ask me why Psycho is my favorite movie (and everyone asks), I refer them to this documentary. I heard that Alexandre O. Philippe is also preparing other documentaries about, for example, Ridley Scott’s Alien (the chest-bursting scene?). Such a series can become a life’s work for him and, for cinematography, the equivalent of the most important cinephile literature (e.g. “Hitchcock/Truffaut”). [Karlovy Vary IFF] (05.07.2017)