Saturday, October 27, 2012

TOBY JONES SHOWS HITCHCOCK'S DARK SIDE AS OBSESSION 
SEXUAL HARASSMENT TAKES CENTER STAGE IN 'THE GIRL'




"After a private screening of HBO's "The Girl" held for Tippi Hedren, her friends and family, including daughter Melanie Griffith, the reaction was silence. Make that stunned silence, as the room took in the film's depiction of a scorned, vindictive Alfred Hitchcock physically and emotionally abusing Hedren during production of "The Birds." ~ Associated Press


Toby Jones plays the formidable director Alfred Hitchcock in HBO's latest film called The Girl.  The Girl, tells the story of the relationship between Hitchcock and actress Tippie Hedren (played by Sienna Miller) who starred in the Hitchcock/Universal films The Birds and Marnie.


Jones's haunting performance in this tale of obsession shows what led to the demise of Hedren's career.  The Girl will make one never look at a Hitchcock film in the same way again.   

The story shows how Hedren (who was approximately 31 years his junior) had to continuously stave off Hitchcock's obsessive sexual advances and then having to deal with his vengeance against her.  In today's terms, Hitchcock's so-called "obsession" would be defined as pure "sexual harassment" which blatantly paraded in front of cast and crew.


More after the jump



Hitchcock sexually attacks Hedren both physically and verbally from telling crude jokes to forcing himself on her as they ride to set.  Although Hedren stood her ground rebuffing his advances, she paid the price for it.

AP writes: 


"In one horrific sequence, the filmmaker withholds from Hedren that real birds, not mechanical ones, will be used in a scene in which she'll be attacked at close quarters. Then he subjects her to five days of shooting, take after take, leaving her injured and distraught. 



A physician forced Hitchcock to suspend production for a week to allow Hedren to recover. "Hitch said we had to keep filming," the actress recalled. "The doctor said, `What are you trying to do, kill her?'"


When Hedren finally wanted to leave from under his contract, he refused thus putting an end to her acting career.

The Girl and the performance that Jones gives is definitely primed for award season. 


In an interview with Collider, Jones talks about developing his Hitcock character and says he almost did not get the role because of his commitment to SWATH. 


"There was a point when my job on Snow White and The Huntsman wasn’t going to allow me to do it. I was very upset, but there was also a massive amount of relief because I knew that, in order to play this part, I’d have to do so much work to get the voice and everything else. It was going to be a big undertaking that took me to some dark places. So, when they said it was not going to work out with the dates, I put all the books down. I was sad, but there was also an element of relief."


Jones was asked if Hedren liked what she saw:

"Absolutely! It’s always very strange to have your life dramatized because it never happens like that. Things will be different. I think we were very sensitive to that, as you would be, but at the end of the day, you have to make a drama that works and functions on its own terms. These things can never be 100% accurate. I think that goes back to the difference between morphing into Alfred Hitchcock or telling an idea of Alfred Hitchcock. I don’t believe I nailed Alfred Hitchcock. It’s a version of Alfred Hitchcock." 

Jones also stated that there will be a difference between the upcoming Hitchcock film starring Anthony Hopkins and his due to the period of time it takes place.  The Hopkins film will take place during the filming of Psycho which is before The Birds.  


Read the rest of his interview here and check out more photos and videos of Jones above and below. The Girl can be now seen on HBO and will be released in the UK in December.




















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