Do You Like Hitchcock? (2005)
"Ti piace Hitchcock?" (original title)

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.

Director:

Dario Argento

Writers:

Dario Argento, Franco Ferrini

Stars:

Elio Germano, Chiara Conti, Elisabetta Rocchetti

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Elio Germano	...	Giulio
Chiara Conti	...	Federica
Elisabetta Rocchetti	...	Sasha
Cristina Brondo	...	Arianna
Iván Morales	...	Andrea
Edoardo Stoppa	...	Inspector
Elena Maria Bellini	...	Giulio's Mother
Horacio José Grigaitis	...	Inspector
Giuseppe Lo Console	...	Federica's Boss (as Giuseppe Loconsole)
Milvia Marigliano	...	Sasha's Mother
Giampiero Perone	...	The Fiancee
Antonio Mazzara	...	Cleaning Man
Anna Varello	...	Doctor
Carla Gambino
Lorenzo Federici

Storyline

In 1990, as a boy, Giulio was chased through the woods by two women after spying on them practicing witchcraft. Now a young film student in Turin, he watches his neighbors in the flats across from his third floor apartment, especially Sasha when she's naked or arguing with her mother. Giulio's girlfriend is disgusted with his voyeurism, but, after a murder occurs, Giulio is convinced that two relative strangers, just as in Hitchcock and Highsmith's "Strangers in a Train," have agreed to murder each other's bête noir. He follows his suspects, ends up with an intruder and a broken foot, and may be in real danger. Is he more than a peeping Tom?

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Plot Keywords:

murder | film student | woods | turin | broken foot | 

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Genres:

Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Italy Spain

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

1 July 2005 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

Do You Like Hitchcock?

Filming Locations:

Torino, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Film Commission Torino-Piemonte, Genesis Motion Pictures, Institut del Cinema Català (ICC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Aside from Strangers on a Train and _Dial M for Murder (1954)_, there are several references to Hitchcock films in this movie: the attempt to murder Giulio in the shower is a reference to the famous scene from Psycho, the protagonist's broken leg and window-peeping are a reference to Rear Window, and the scene on the roof is very similar to the ending of Vertigo.

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Connections

References The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi (2003)

User Reviews

Playful and suspenseful homage to a great director by a great director

Giulio is a peeping Tom and lovely Sascha from across the street catches his eye from time to time. At a local video store Giulio sees Sascha and another girl discussing Hitchcock's film Strangers on a Train and Sascha rents it. Later Sascha's mother is killed and Giulio starts thinking about the plot from Strangers on a Train.

From his very first film Argento has been nicknamed "the Italian Hitchcock" and many still refer to him as that. Although he heartily disagrees with that assessment, Argento may have felt obliged to do a direct homage to the old master at some point in his career. With the help of his longtime script collaborator Franco Ferrini, Argento has constructed a very clever "whodunnit" which successfully weaves together elements from Hitchcock's Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Dial M. for Murder and Vertigo, and possibly a few others. The story is surprisingly airtight considering the many films it's paying homage to. No great loopholes to be found and although you know the old films by heart, Do You Like Hitchcock? still manages to surprise up until the end. It's no doubt great fun for a Hitchcock aficionado to spot all the references, I particularly liked the Vertigo inspired ending.

Some Argento trademarks are present but on the whole it doesn't always look like it's one of his films. It must be taken into consideration that this is an Italian made for TV film and Argento reportedly had to make it in a hurry and it's budget is lower than usual. The actors here are actually pretty decent and the dubbing fares better here than in Argento's The Card Player. No big names here but they do their jobs well enough. The gore is on the light side, only one sequence has some ick factor in it.

With all limitations in mind it's a wonder what Argento managed to accomplish because Do You Like Hitchcock? is overall a suspenseful homage that no doubt Hitchcock himself would have approved of.