Under Hitchcock's spell (Spellbound [2003] (DVD))

Name: radams

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Product:	Spellbound [2003] (DVD)
Date:	01/08/02 (166 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great cast, Wierd psychology

Disadvantages: Wierd psychology

Hitchcock’s "Spellbound" is an intriguing movie, but also an irritating one in many ways.
It has been said that the plot is not very convincing, and even that the story (based on a novel by Francis Beeding) is not very interesting. On the whole, I’d agree with this, but it does have a lot to recommend it - romance, suspense and a famous dream sequence by Salvador Dali.

A young doctor (Gregory Peck) arrives at a psychiatric institute as its new director, and immediately falls for Ingrid Bergman (who also plays a doctor – not just a nurse, but a clever doctor). A female protagonist like this was certainly not commonplace in 40s cinema. However, she soon realises he is not Dr. Edwards after all, and some kind of imposter...
There’s plenty of cod-psychology, and most of it doesn’t ring at all true nowadays – there’s some talk about “guilt complexes” and some dream analysis which are frankly laughable. Also, there’s a scene with the doctors (psychiatrists) performing surgery on a patient. I thought the psychiatrists left that sort of thing to the surgeons!
Never mind about any little inaccuracies, this is a Hitchcock film (I believe some of these medical points were mentioned to him, but he dismissed them, saying it was only a movie) and there’s plenty of suspense, as well as a bit of fun.
"Spellbound" is a slightly disappointing entry from the production and direction team of Selznick and Hitchcock. The characters are well drawn out but it’s hard to see what really drives anyone, and the plot develops in what seems to be a haphazard, ultimately unconvincing, way. The conclusion is arrived at in a very contrived manner.
Peck and Bergman run away, and manage to stay in the house of an old psychiatrist professor of hers, the eccentric Dr. Brulov (Michael Chekhov – nothing to do with the Star Trek chappie) who of course puts his finger on al
l of Peck’s various complexes and psychological problems. Oh, yes, and he has amnesia – a very useful dramatic device for saving up the surprises for the end!

All the same, Spellbound, is definitely worth watching. Spellbinding, in fact. The acting is excellent, especially from Bergman and Peck, and Michael Chekhov is a surefire scene stealer. It’s not short of those well-observed Hitchcockian moments, either. There’s one particular scene I love, the significance of which I’m not entirely sure about. It’s in the doctor’s waiting room, where the 2 minor characters are chatting to one another. They turn out to be detectives, but the scene is played for all the world as though they are a gay couple. Well, that’s the way I read it, maybe a 40s audience saw it differently. Perhaps the movie is best viewed as a suspense story with added fun.

It was nominated for 6 Oscars, but only won one for the best score. This was by Miklos Rozsa, which is probably why it sounds so much like Gone with the wind.

On to the DVD features.

There are many extras:
- biographies, include facts, trivia, and quotes.
I found the text to be almost unreadable however (white text on top of photos)

- Slide Show
Stills featuring scenes of the director and the stars, as well as Salvador Dali, and artwork, and posters promoting the movie.

- Hitchcock extras
This is where you’ll find most of the extras.
There’s an interview with Hitchcock (featuring a very young Robert Robinson)
Most of the footage in this section is film of Kim Newman (novelist and critic), offering his opinion on Hitch. It’s rather dull, and a bit like being in a University lecture. There are 4 sections, on different subjects, but essentially it’s just talk, and after 5 minutes of each section I’d had enough.

The inlay mentions a “hidden button”, which in one
way sounds like a brilliant idea (but why advertise a hidden button?), but on the other hand it didn’t seem to lead to anywhere on the DVD that I hadn’t been before, so I couldn’t se the point. Another frustration, in the end.
The extras were not, then very impressive.

Overall, I'd say watch it on TV. But do watch it, it's a great movie. Not Hitchcock's best, but still a great movie.

Summary: