The Key to Reserva

A must see for any film buff and Scorsese or Hitchcock fan. Chock-full of minute Hitchcock references.

Martin Scorsese goes to lengths at the start of The Key to Reserva to present it like it's buried treasure he's discovered; his enthusiasm seems genuine, even funny (i.e. when he goes on about if Hitchcock were alive he'd direct it, but he's not, so...) and then he presents what he's directed- missing pages from a few pages of script that were never shot by Hitchcock. But as the film unfolds, which seems like the greatest homage, as opposed to a real abandoned script, to the master of suspense ever made, there's the eerie feeling it is just that. I loved seeing Scorsese go into a kind of master's class demonstration of how to emphasize all of the obsessions, which were highlighted in the screenplay... And yet, it also seemed a little fishy. It wasn't until later on that a friend, who also saw the short, told me it was fake. Curses! And the birds at the end too were part of the gimmick I bet!

All kidding aside, it's a splendid tribute to Hitch, with a dastardly sense of timing with the scene at the opera, a strange amalgamation of the tensest of Hitchcock's grab bag calling to the likes of Sabateur (ironically, or just oddly enough, twenty years ago Dario Argento, a disciple of Hitchcockian suspense to a very-much Italian horror degree, had a sequence almost just like this one in his film Opera). Simon Baker plays the killer, and there's a timing to his movements that suggests something like perfect clockwork, a kind of divine madness that comes more out of technique then in storytelling. Then again, it's the story itself, however short, that brings it out as such. In the end it's all a big goof by Scorsese played on the audience, but a brilliant one, and he puts himself in the background knowing of his own persona in the process. Matter of fact, that's the real key to reserva, if you'll forgive the not-quite pun: process is the way it goes, be it timing a murder to an orchestration, or a dolly shot or crane move to just the right pitch.

And, of course, always with a knowing grin as with the master's best work... which reminds me, you'd never know it, but it's a wine commercial!

The Key to Reserva is a fun little Hitchcock homage that has Marty playing himself, which is also pretty funny. You get the best of both worlds, as it starts off as a mockumentary of sorts about Scorsese making a movie, and then you get to see a sequence Scorsese actually shot for this make-believe project. He pays tribute to - and replicates - Hitchcock well, and I think he's pretty funny here in the lead role (outside the homage sequence).

Sadly, it's also a commercial, which is always going to rub me the wrong way. I guess bills have to be paid, though, and people like drinking champagne. At least this is more creative than most advertising out there, and I think if we're talking commercials disguised as short films that were directed by Scorsese, The Key to Reserva is a good deal better and more inspired than 2015's The Audition, even if that one has the more eye-catching cast.

I'm not sure if anything else by Scorsese counts as a work of advertising, but I'd recommend this one over The Audition any day.

Scorsese does Hitchcock, how awesome is that! This is basically one fine homage to the master of suspense from a great and acclaimed director of this age. Beware though that this is not really a movie, it's in fact a cleverly and originally done advertisement.

It in fact is a complex advertisement for a Catalan winery, disguised as a short movie directed by none other than Martin Scorsese, based on a lost script for an Alfred Hitchcock movie (which of course is not true). It really must have gotten some publicity and the advertisement also obviously won some awards. The movie focuses on some behind the scene's work, in documentary style, in which Scorsese discusses his golden find and why he made the film. It also even features Scorsese's editor Thelma Schoonmaker, to make it all seem all the more legit. The movie further more also features the entire short, which got based on the 3 pages of the 'lost script'. The short is entirely done in Hitchcock style and features many tongue in cheek references to some classic Hitchcock moments.

Quite funny how many people actually still believe that Scorsese found really a lost Hitchcock and this movie got based on it and therefor this movie is also a real and serious one. On the other hand, if there are still so many people who think this is real, than you could also wonder if the advertisement truly worked out, since so many people did not and still don't 'get it'.

As a whole, this short is a fun one to watch. It's quite amusing to see Scorsese raving and babbling on about his great find and it shows that Scorsese is actually quite a good and amusing actor on his own, as he had already proofed before in some movies, in which he often played a very small role.

But of course it's mostly all about the short, based on the 3 pages script, which got entirely done in the style of Hitchcock. The Hitchcock fanatics should get a real kick out of it, since Scorsese seemed to have gotten every little detail right. No doubt Scorsese himself is also a great admirer of Hitchcock's work. Things such as lighting, camera-work and angles, editing and even the look of the actors are spot on. It on top of that also features lots of references to some classic Hitchcock movies, such as; "North by Northwest", "Rear Window" and "Notorious", among many others.

Seems like Freixnet will also do more movies such as this one in the future.

A nice homage, as well as a great and clever advertisement.

8/10

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Key to Reserva, The (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Nine-minute short from Scorsese has him playing himself as he uncovers three and a half pages of an unfinished Alfred Hitchcock screenplay. Not much was known of this project but for fun Scorsese decided to film those pages and try to keep it as close to what Hitchcock would have done had he been directing it himself. If you're a fan of Scorsese or Hitchcock then this is a must see even though it's nothing more than an eventual product placement. It was great fun seeing Scorsese return to the short film because he certainly delivered the goods with not only his performance but his stab at directing like Hitchcock for those three and a half pages. The opening sequence, a homage to North by Northwest were just great as was the ending, which I won't spoil but it too is a homage to one of Hitch's most famous movies. Rear Window and Vertigo are also mentioned as is a joke about the lost portions of Greed. This film certainly isn't meant to be anything serious but it is a lot of fun for fans of the director.