Monday 31 October 2011

Just For Sophy.. Rear Window

A few weekends ago my cousin Sophy and I sat down and watched Rear Window, a film by Alfred Hitchcock based on a photographic journalist - Jeff played by James Stewart who, wheelchair bound, spends his days staring out his wondow at his neighbours. He believes he is witness to the murder of one of his neighbours wives and continues to spy on the husband, whom he thought guilty, for additonal evidence. He eventually gets his cop friend, house keeper and girlfriend Lisa played by Grace Kelly all involved. The viewer spends most of the film anticipating 'the look' which comes just at the end when the murdering neighbour turns and you see him, see him watching! My cousin and I both literally winced at this point.


Food plays a vital role in many of Hitchcocks film, he was the son of a greengrocer, and a clear lover of food just going by his waistline! It is said he prepared many of the meals used in his foods, and a book has actually been written documenting the recipes. Quite an important scene of the film is when Lisa brings dinner for Jeff, they get into a discussion about all the events of the past evenings. She serves Lobster which is bought in a big case and by a suit clad gentleman- a superior takeaway.


'... according to a new book out in France this month, the film-maker and gourmand also enjoyed rustling up dishes to star in his movies. In The Sauce Was Nearly Perfect – a pun on the Gallic translation of Dial M for Murder, The Murder Was Nearly Perfect – authors Anne Martinetti and François Rivière have collected the recipes of 80 dishes that made guest appearances in Hitch's films, such as the Moroccan tagine of The Man Who Knew Too Much, the quiche lorraine from To Catch a Thief, a plum bread in Rebecca, a pecan pie in Marnie, Vertigo's Maryland turkey supreme and the trout cooked up in North by Northwest. According to the authors, Hitchcock, who was the son of a greengrocer, also used food as a means to drive the plot. Witness, they say, how key scenes happen around food: a policeman getting frustrated over an overcooked bird in Frenzy, the family meal in Young and Innocent, the picnic scene in To Catch a Thief or the dinner party at the house of writer Isobel Sedbusk in Suspicion.'


No comments:

Post a Comment