Guillermo del Toro’s Dissection of Hitchcock: Masterclasses in Praise of “Pure Cinema”
According to the CinemaDrame News Agency, Guillermo del Toro, the Academy Award-winning director behind films such as Nightmare Alley and his upcoming Frankenstein project, shared his lifelong fascination with Alfred Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles this weekend through a series of masterclasses and screenings.
The event, titled “Guillermo del Toro Dissects Hitchcock,” features shot-by-shot analyses and thematic explorations of five key works by Hitchcock: Notorious, Shadow of a Doubt, North by Northwest, I Confess, and Frenzy.
The Secret Behind the Masterpiece Notorious: Escaping the Grip of a Dictatorial Producer
Del Toro opened the series with Notorious (1946), a film he believes marks a vital turning point in Hitchcock’s ascension to becoming a top-tier filmmaker within the Hollywood system.
Del Toro explained that prior to this film, Hitchcock’s work on Rebecca and Spellbound was heavily and exhaustingly controlled by David O. Selznick, the legendary and hegemonic Hollywood producer. Selznick constantly interfered with Hitchcock’s work via endless memos to stamp his own signature on the films. However, during the production of Notorious, Selznick was so overwhelmed by financial difficulties and the massive production demands of his Western epic, Duel in the Sun, that he was forced to relinquish control. This creative freedom allowed Hitchcock to utilize the full resources of the RKO studio to craft one of the greatest romantic spy thrillers in cinematic history.
By screening behind-the-scenes footage and analyzing camera movement techniques (such as the complex crane shots that begin from the sky and lock onto a minuscule detail), del Toro demonstrated to the audience the evolution of Hitchcock’s cinematic toolkit from Notorious to later films like Frenzy.
Cleverly Bypassing the Censor’s Blade and the Magic of “Pure Cinema”
The Pan’s Labyrinth director also highlighted the famous long kiss sequence between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in Notorious—a scene where Hitchcock’s clever staging (mise-en-scène) managed to technically obey Hollywood’s strict Production Code while practically bypassing it. Del Toro emphasized that Hitchcock’s genius shines not only in this sequence but also in repeating that same emotional rhythm in the film’s final shot, using the tools of “pure cinema” to maximize the emotional impact on the viewer.
Expressing concern over the current state of film criticism and analysis, del Toro noted:
“Hitchcock is one of the purest filmmakers representing the language of cinema. Why do I say this matters? Because I think the language of cinema is evaporating. Today, most of the time when we discuss movies, we use terms inherited from dramatic literature and theater—meaning plot, screenplay, and characters. But look at the visual arts; we never analyze a painting by Van Gogh by saying, ‘Well, this is just a picture of some flowers in a vase.’ No, we talk about the power of the brushstroke, the richness of the color palette, and the form of the work within the language of that specific medium. We are losing the ability to discuss cinema in the language of cinema itself.”
Keeping the Pact with Cinema Alive
Del Toro, who recently joined the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, announced his intention to continue this masterclass series in the future, focusing on the works of other filmmakers (such as Luis Buñuel’s Mexican period) to foster cinematic literacy, particularly among the younger generation of filmmakers.
He concluded his remarks by saying:
“It is our duty to renew our pact with cinema, not the studios’. Remember, there is no such thing as an old movie; there are only movies you haven’t seen for the first time yet to become new and alive for you.”
