Hitchcock/Truffaut is a documentary about the behind the scenes details of how Francois Truffaut made his 1966 book, Cinema According to Hitchcock, and how it influenced notable directors. I am surprised that I was not into Hitchcock/Truffaut. Perhaps I will give the documentary another chance when I am more focused.
Hitchcock/Truffaut is basically a chance for a bunch of film geeks turned directors to fanboy over how great the two legendary directors are. James Gray, whose work I’ve never seen, but clearly we could have a meal and talk, made the most salient point in Hitchcock/Truffaut: silent film directors are better than those who never had to make a film without sound because then the visual story is as effective as the script, which may be the problem in Hitchcock/Truffaut. The documentary is fairly static except for clips from Hitchcock and Truffaut’s films. Hitchcock/Truffaut’s audio of the film titans’ original interaction is interesting, but not visual, and would lend itself better to a podcast series rather than a documentary.
Because I spent much of my young adulthood being taught how Hitchcock was an artist and popular, Hitchcock/Truffaut just felt like an echo chamber. I also know that filmmaking is a predominantly male business, but Hitchcock/Truffaut is a sausage fest with guys talking about guys. So you could not find one single female director to fangirl in Hitchcock/Truffaut? Apparently Kathryn Bigelow turned down an invitation, but there are more female directors than Bigelow. Come on! Other than a Japanese director, Hitchcock/Truffaut does not reflect on how Hitchcock/Truffaut influenced other film traditions outside of America and Europe unless the implication is that they did not, which seems unlikely and would disappoint Hitchcock tremendously.
There is one woman in Hitchcock/Truffaut, but she is uncredited. Helen Scott is the interpreter in Hitchcock/Truffaut. Technically without her, there would be no movie, no audio, no film. Hitchcock/Truffaut is a reminder that the perspective of the documentarian limits the comprehensiveness of the subject.