This post is my contribution to The Best Hitchcock Films Hitchcock Never Made blogathon hosted by Tales of the Easily Distracted and Classic Becky's Brain Food. Click here for more information and links to participating blogs.
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On the face of it, the only thing Alfred Hitchcock and Woody Allen seem to have in common is the distinction of being aknowledged as preeminent auteurs. As Michael Newton put it in The Guardian earlier this year, "Along with Alfred Hitchcock, Allen must be the most recognizable director in the history of cinema."
Hitchcock, who spent most of his career working within the studio system, developed the habit early on of planning and shooting his films so carefully that they were virtually immune to being re-cut by anyone else. Then, in 1954, he entered into a deal with Paramount that allowed him to work autonomously, provided generous production budgets and gave him ownership of those films he both produced and directed. Allen‘s career as a director took off in the 1970s, just as a new generation of independent-minded filmmakers swept into Hollywood. Almost from the beginning he had a remarkable arrangement with his financiers and distributors: as long as he stayed within budget he would have complete artistic freedom. Hitchcock, who began in the silent era where he gained experience in art direction, was influenced by German expressionism and Soviet montage theory and approached film as visual storytelling. Allen began as a writer and, naturally, has relied more on dialogue and use of the long master shot in his films. Hitchcock became synonymous with big movies with high production values while Allen has made films with an "art house" sensibility and appeal on relatively small budgets.
And yet, in 2005 Woody Allen made a film of distinctly “Hitchcockian” elements. Match Point is a sexy thriller about luck and morality set in modern-day London. The film showcases two intensely magnetic stars, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Bend it Like Beckham, Mission Impossible III, The Tudors) and Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Iron Man II, The Avengers).
With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose...
And yet, in 2005 Woody Allen made a film of distinctly “Hitchcockian” elements. Match Point is a sexy thriller about luck and morality set in modern-day London. The film showcases two intensely magnetic stars, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (Bend it Like Beckham, Mission Impossible III, The Tudors) and Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Iron Man II, The Avengers).
With a little luck it goes forward and you win. Or maybe it doesn't, and you lose...
Chris Wilton (Rhys Meyers) is a former professional tennis player hired by a posh London tennis club as an instructor. There he meets Tom Hewett (Matthew Goode), scion of an extremely moneyed British family. The two become friendly and when Tom discovers Chris enjoys opera, he invites him to join his family in their box at the Royal Opera House for a performance of La Traviata. There Chris meets Tom’s parents and his eligible and instantly smitten sister, Chloe (Emily Mortimer); romance blooms. Soon after, Chris meets Nola Rice (Johansson), Tom’s luscious fiancée, an aspiring American actress. While the Hewett progeny are attractive enough physically, their wealth, position and lifestyle of culture and privilege are even more appealing. Chris and Nola are good-looking, charismatic creatures and, much as each knows they are onto a good thing with their respective lovers, sparks fly between them.
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| Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Scarlett Johansson as Chris Wilton and Nola Rice |
This Woody Allen-penned, Oscar-nominated story could easily have appealed to Alfred Hitchcock who knew not only the value of a good, well-scripted story, but also made two films about tennis playing protagonists with problematic relationships and status issues who become involved in murder. In Strangers on a Train (1951), competitive tennis player Guy Haines aspires to a loftier position in life and hopes to divorce his small-town floozy wife so he can marry the daughter of a U.S. senator. In Dial M for Murder (1954), retired tennis player Tony Wendice, who has discovered that his wealthy wife has been carrying on a serious love affair, fears he may lose his meal ticket and cushy lifestyle.
But before any inkling of murder surfaces in Match Point, Chris, who is headed for marriage to Chloe and a good job with “one of” her father’s companies, develops a fascination with Nola. When, one day, he runs into her on the street, the two end up having drinks together. They talk about themselves and their relationships with Chloe and Tom and the elder Hewetts. Nola remarks that Eleanor, Tom and Chloe’s mother, hates her but that Chris is more fortunate, he’s “being groomed.”
Nola: You’re going to do very well for yourself, unless you blow it.
Chris: And how am I going to blow it?
Nola: By making a pass at me.
Chris: What makes you think that’s going to happen?
Nola: Men always seem to wonder. They think I’d be something very special.
The two laugh, but Chris is powerfully tempted. Scarlett Johansson's Nola Rice begins as an assured, almost taunting beauty confident of her sexual appeal. She isn't quite the Grace Kelly version of the Hitchcock blonde, but falls somewhere between the worldly hedonism of Ingrid Bergman at the beginning of Notorious (1946) and Kim Novak's subdued sultriness in Vertigo (1958). A blonde who flirts with danger, Nola is Hitchcock's kind of woman.
When fate eventually provides the moment, the two indulge in a frenzy of passion, but Nola warns, "this can't lead anyplace." Chris goes on to marry Chloe and Tom later breaks off with Nola (Tom: "mother poisoned the well"). Chris adapts to life on the corporate fast track, he and Chloe move into a spectacular, glass-encased apartment overlooking the Thames and she is soon fixated on becoming pregnant. The vitality begins to drain from Chris's life. As luck will have it, he and Nola meet again and this time she, who is beginning to lose her self-confidence and show slight signs of wear, is available. A torrid affair begins. As Chris embarks on a double life, the atmosphere quickens with tension. When his romance with Nola hits the wall of reality and she begins to pose a threat, unrelenting suspense mounts until a neatly executed plot twist brings unexpected resolution.
What helps to create the film's tension and suspense are themes and motifs that echo Hitchcock:
As well known for his ability to cast a film as Alfred Hitchcock, Woody Allen has said that his philosophy is to “hire the best actors, shut up and get out of their way.” One of Match Point’s great strengths is its cast, especially Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the central role. His Chris Wilton subtly and evocatively transforms from a beguiling “boy from Ireland come to London” who would like to do something special with his life, to a remote and preoccupied rising executive with dark secrets on his compliant conscience. Rhys Meyer’s sympathetic introduction along with selective point-of-view camera work engages the viewer; Chris is captivating. By the time he has fallen into desperation and is entangled in murder, we find ourselves complicit and anxious about his fate. Hitchcock managed this trick many times with his proclivity for point-of-view editing and masterful casting. Who could help but identify with Robert Walker’s Bruno Anthony in Strangers on a Train as he struggles to retrieve a lighter from a drain so that he can plant it as false evidence? Who doesn't share the nervousness of Anthony Perkins’s Norman Bates in Psycho as he waits for a car to sink after he’s pushed it into a swamp?
Woody Allen was elated with Match Point and was quoted widely at the time of its release saying he considered it his best film to date. Everything had come together, he said, and the production had been blessed with luck. Every actor exceeded his expectations, there was no trouble gaining access to desired locations and even the weather cooperated. He reflected that the storyline lent itself to the film medium and he’d been able to take advantage of that, focusing on action as much as dialogue. The movie, best described as a “moral thriller,” was his first successful drama and reinvigorated his career. Allen’s screenplay was nominated for an Oscar and Jonathan Rhys Meyers was awarded the Chopard Trophy at Cannes.
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| Scarlett Johansson will portray Janet Leigh In "Hitchcock" (2013) |
When fate eventually provides the moment, the two indulge in a frenzy of passion, but Nola warns, "this can't lead anyplace." Chris goes on to marry Chloe and Tom later breaks off with Nola (Tom: "mother poisoned the well"). Chris adapts to life on the corporate fast track, he and Chloe move into a spectacular, glass-encased apartment overlooking the Thames and she is soon fixated on becoming pregnant. The vitality begins to drain from Chris's life. As luck will have it, he and Nola meet again and this time she, who is beginning to lose her self-confidence and show slight signs of wear, is available. A torrid affair begins. As Chris embarks on a double life, the atmosphere quickens with tension. When his romance with Nola hits the wall of reality and she begins to pose a threat, unrelenting suspense mounts until a neatly executed plot twist brings unexpected resolution.
The man who said, "I'd rather be lucky than good" saw deeply into life...
What helps to create the film's tension and suspense are themes and motifs that echo Hitchcock:
- The Wrong Man - Occasionally Hitchcock turned this theme on its head and the-innocent-man-accused would be a secondary character rather than the protagonist. This character's sudden death puts an end to further police investigation. The device is employed in both Blackmail (1929) and Shadow of a Doubt (1943) - it also occurs in Match Point.
- Doubles - A recurrent Hitchcock theme in which two characters seem kindred spirits until their bond is broken. Classic examples are the relationships between Guy Haines and Bruno Anthony in Stangers on a Train and "the two Charlies" in Shadow of a Doubt. Chris and Nola appear to be two of a kind when they meet over a ping pong table. But, as she learns, he plays "a very aggressive game."
- Obsession - Vertigo is a virtual meditation on obsession, but Hitchcock contemplated fascination several times. Young Charlie is enchanted by her Uncle Charlie in Shadow of a Doubt, Bruno is obsessed with Guy in Strangers on a Train, two young men are enthralled with a philosophy in Rope (1948), in Rear Window (1954) L.B. Jeffries becomes obsessed with his neighbors' lives and his belief that a murder has been committed. In Match Point, Chris develops a fixation on Nola; later, their roles reverse.
- The staircase motif is an image Alfred Hitchcock used frequently - famously in Suspicion (1941), Shadow of a Doubt, Notorious, Strangers on a Train, Vertigo and Psycho (1960). Staircases are prominently featured in Match Point.
- The dominant mother is another Hitchcock trademark. Mrs. Bates is a powerful unseen presence in Psycho; in Notorious, Mme. Sebastian has all but emasculated her son. Outspoken Eleanor Hewett's disapproval of Nola in Match Point is pivotal.
- Landmarks are common backdrops for important scenes in Hitchcock films - the list is long, from the British Museum in Blackmail forward. Match Point showcases London landmarks including The Tate Modern museum, The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the stunning Parliament View Apartments and The Queen's Club. Unlike Allen's treatment of New York in Manhattan (1979), Match Point is no homage to a city, rather, the attractions of London enhance the film's narrative.
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| Jonathan Rhys Meyers |
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| Filming Match Point: Scarlett Johansson and Woody Allen on the set |
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Sources:
Conversations with Woody Allen by Eric Lax, Knopf (2007)
Woody Allen: cinema's great experimentalist by Michael Newton, The Guardian, January 13, 2012 (quote only)
Conversations with Woody Allen by Eric Lax, Knopf (2007)
Woody Allen: cinema's great experimentalist by Michael Newton, The Guardian, January 13, 2012 (quote only)
