Ti piace Hitchcock?

Plot synopsis:
In 1991, while riding his bike through the woods, a young boy spots a woman darting between the trees. He puts down his bike and runs after her. The woman meets up with another woman, they speak briefly and run together through the woods until they arrive at an old stone house. The boy continues after them, peeks through the window of the house and watches as they wildly slaughter a rooster. The women spot the boy at the window and chase after him, saying "You'll be sorry, I'll kill you, You'll never get away from us".Present Day. A young man, Julio, working late at night spies an attractive neighbor girl getting dressed. He watches her through binoculars as she takes off her red bra. The next morning, he rides his motorbike to his girlfriend's apartment to pick her up. After they make love in his apartment, the girlfriend leaves and Julio stays behind, watching the neighbors out the window (à la "Rear Window").Julio sees Sasha (the same young woman from the previous night's spying) having an argument with her mother. Later in the day, he meets her by chance at a video rental store. He doesn't speak to her, but he watches her as she talks with another woman, Federica. The two women both want to rent "Strangers on a Train". They talk and become friends. Julio rents some films by Fritz Lang whom he is studying for his college thesis.Later that night as Julio is watching his film while smoking marijuana, he sees Sasha watching her movies in the apartment across the street. Her mother tells her angrily to turn down the volume. Sasha meanders out to the balcony where she briefly sees Julio. He ducks back into his apartment.The next day, Julio is back at the video store and sees Federica as she rents "Strangers on a Train". The creepy video store guy makes some advances towards her, but she's not interested and drives away. Later, while riding his bicycle, Julio sees Sasha and Federica having lunch by a fountain, talking closely, almost intimately.That evening, a white-gloved intruder uses a key to enter Sasha's apartment while her mother is home alone watching TV. The intruder murders Sasha's mother by beating her to death with a brass pestle. Julio is awakened later that night by the sounds of the police cars which have come to investigate. Sasha is being questioned.Julio meets the video store guy the next morning and they talk briefly about the murder. They both attend Sasha's mother's funeral.Julio meets his girlfriend for lunch. Reading the newspaper, he finds out that Sasha Zerboni was an only child. Her mother was a rich widow. Julio tells his girlfriend that he's been thinking about "Strangers on a Train" all day. They rent it and watch it together. He suspects that Sasha and Federica are in an agreement like that of "Strangers on a Train". His girlfriend says he's crazy. In the course of their conversation, she realizes that he's been watching Sasha out his window.Later, Julio sees a woman cleaning Sasha's mother's apartment. He goes across the street and finds the cleaning crew mopping up the bloody crime scene. After a brief exchange with the crew chief, Julio dashes out. He snatches a letter out of the Zerboni mailbox and is almost caught by a neighbor. He reads the letter in the lift up to his apartment. It's a bank statement with almost one million Euros in the account. At his home, he is surprised to find his mother there, cleaning it. She previously told Julio she's getting remarried, to her tennis coach, and wants Julio to meet the guy. Eventually, she leaves for an appointment.Sasha comes back to her apartment where the crew chief tells her about Julio's visit, and that he lives across the street. She knows he's been watching her.While Julio showers, someone breaks into his apartment. The intruder breaks an empty wine bottle and flees when Julio hears the noise and jumps out of the shower. Julio calls his girlfriend and asks her to come over to spend the night because he's nervous.Julio and his girlfriend discuss the situation. She's more interested in making love. When he insists that it is now Sasha's turn to kill someone close to Federica (à la "Strangers on a Train"), she says he needs to see a shrink and storms out.The next day, Julio has his locks changed. He passes by the video store and the video guy tells him that Sasha had been in and asked about him, saying that she knew he watched her.That night, Julio has a nightmare flashback to the first scene with the two women slaughtering the rooster. It becomes obvious that he is the boy in that scene. He awakes to hear someone trying to break into his apartment, but the intruder runs away before Julio can get the door unlocked and give chase.The following day, Julio returns "Strangers on a Train" to the video store. The video guy (Andrea) asks Julio to mind the store while he steps out. Julio agrees and while Andrea is away, he looks up Federica's address on the store computer. In the middle of his poking around, Sasha comes into the store and they speak briefly. She sees that he has returned "Strangers on a Train" and she puts it back on the shelf.Julio rides his motorbike to Federica's apartment and follows her when she leaves. He drives wildly after her until she arrives at her office at Oniusaxo & Co. - Studio Immobiliare (Real Estate Office). Through the window, he sees Federica's boss grope her inappropriately. At the end of the day, Federica hesitatingly gets into the boss's car with him. She is clearly unhappy to be there. They arrive at the boss's apartment and Julio, having followed them there, sees them arguing in a second floor window. Julio scampers up a ledge to a second floor balcony as it starts to rain. He can see and hear Federica and her boss arguing in bed. The boss is blackmailing Federica because of some money she stole from a client. He is forcing her to submit to him sexually in exchange for not reporting her.In the middle of the boss's forcing himself upon Federica, he spots Julio looking through the window. Julio tries to scamper back down the ledge, but he falls and fractures his ankle in the process. The boss gives chase and Julio limps to his motorbike and just barely escapes, slipping and falling in the rain several times while the boss pursues him.Julio's mother takes him to the doctor who tells him he'll have to be in a cast for several weeks. Julio's girlfriend comes over to his place to help him mend, but when he starts telling her what happened and his theory of how Federica wants Sasha to kill her boss, the girlfriend says he's crazier than ever and storms out, saying she never wants to see him again.Just as Julio's girlfriend is leaving, Andrea, the video guy comes to visit Julio. He's brought some classic Hitchcock videos for Julio to watch while he's laid up. He asks to use the bathroom and a few minutes later tells Julio that the tap is stuck and won't turn off. When Julio enters the bathroom, Andrea grabs him and tries to drown him in the tub. While Julio and Andrea are struggling, Julio's mother and her fiancée come to visit Julio. Hearing the screams from inside the apartment, the fiancée breaks down the door and pulls Andrea off Julio. While Julio's mother revives Julio, the fiancée chases after Andrea. As they leave the apartment, Andrea runs across the street and is fatally hit by a car. Sasha looks down from her balcony, realizes what happened and becomes physically ill.The police come and arrest Sasha and detectives speak to Julio. Later, Julio's girlfriend, Ariana, comes over and they make up. Julio explains that Sasha's plot was more similar to the film "Dial M for Murder" in which a man hires a killer to kill his wife. Here, Sasha hired Andrea to kill her mother.As Ariana is closing the window, she sees a woman dressed in black approaching Sasha's apartment. Despite Julio's protests, Ariana insists on chasing after her to see what she's doing. Julio sees through his binoculars that the woman is Federica, in disguise. She is looking for the key which she mistakenly left in Sasha's apartment. Julio realizes that Federica was the real killer of Sasha's mother and that Andrea must have joined them later. Julio calls Ariana on her cell phone, but she refuses to give up the pursuit despite his protests that Federica is a killer.Julio calls the inspector and he responds immediately, arriving at Sasha's apartment before Ariana has a chance to confront Federica. They chase her up to the rooftop where she threatens to jump off. Federica slips off the edge of the building, but the inspector catches her by the arm before she falls. The inspector and Ariana manage to haul Federica up to safety, at which point she is placed under arrest.In the final scene, Julio's cast is off and he is exercising. Julio gets a phone call from his mother and while they talk he sees a light go on in Sasha's former apartment. Another beautiful woman has taken residence in the apartment. She is almost naked and reading a book on the couch. She sees Julio watching her from across the street, but doesn't seem to mind. Julio stands staring with mouth agape.

Tags: horror, murder

Review:
Most enjoyable and suspenseful tale, featuring in the main elements of 'Strangers On A Train' and 'Rear Window', but also making reference to many of Hitchcock's movies.
One thing concerning this film should be made clear immediately, otherwise several Dario Argento fans will risk being disappointed: "Do you like Hitchcock" is a TV-movie and therefore not as outrageous and/or shocking as we expect Argento films to be!
This is by no means a bad film and please don't see this warning as sign not to watch it, but I only want to prevent that people will start making comments like "Dario Argento continues to lose his touch" etc...
This general idea is terrific for a homage, I think, and admirers of classic cinema will certainly enjoy the blend of all these Hichcock highlights in modern settings.Argento's film largely focuses on two Hitckcock milestones, namely "Strangers on a Train" and "Read Window".
With the help of his longtime script collaborator Franco Ferrini, Argento has constructed a very clever "whodunnit" which successfully weaves together elements from Hitchcock's Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Dial M.
It's no doubt great fun for a Hitchcock aficionado to spot all the references, I particularly liked the Vertigo inspired ending.Some Argento trademarks are present but on the whole it doesn't always look like it's one of his films.
Argento's made-for-television "Ti piace Hitchcock?" is an entertaining giallo which pays tribute to the works of the old master.A "Rear Window" for the noughties, Argento's offering delivers some great moments and there are fleeting glimpses of the genius behind such classics as "Deep Red" and "Tenebrae".Elio Germano is excellent as the geeky voyeur who's nosiness leads him into no end of trouble.
I had pretty high expectations from this movie as it is a tribute from the great Dario Argento to the great Alfred Hitchcock.Dario Argento is one of the living directors i have the greatest respect for, and one of my personal favorite directors of all-time, and there is probably no true cineaste around to doubt that Alfred Hitchcock is one of THE most influential and greatest directors in the history of motion pictures.That being said, I was slightly disappointed with "Ti Piace Hitchcock?" aka "Do You Like Hitchcock?" of 2005.
Not because it's not nearly as gory and brutal as Argento's ultra-violent masterpieces from the 70s and 80s - I expected it to be mild for Argento standards, since it's a made-for-TV tribute from a genius director, Dario Argento, to another genius director, Alfred Hitchcock, and this doesn't call for the extreme violence of films like Suspiria or Opera.
There is a lot of tension, and the movie highly entertains, no doubt about that but the plot-twists are quite lame and it is simply not nearly as suspenseful as we're used to from Argento, especially after he delivered another great and highly suspenseful Giallo, "Non Ho Sonno" aka "Sleepless" in 2001.The performances are great, Elio Germano delivers a solid leading performances and all three leading actresses - Elisabetta Roncchetti, Christina Brondo and Chiara Conti are both sexy and excellent in their roles, especially Roncchetti is drop-dead gorgeous and delivers a great performance in a great femme-fatale role.
The plot resembles a lot of Hitchcock's Rear Window and is about a film student who is a Peeping Tom who cant restrain himself from spying on his sexy neighbor and he gets in a lot of trouble for it.I thought it was a nice change to this time see Argento experiment with a different kind of a movie, and the script moves forward in a much more straightforward manner than any film he's done before.If you can live without the excessive gore, and are up for an unusually lighthearted Argento movie, mixed with some of his old visual style, then it's definitely worth a watch..
He directed this movie for the Italian television (RAI) and in mine opinion with success.The movie was introduced to the crowd by the master of horror himself.The movie isn't as gory like the seventies eighties Argento movies but it still contains a lot of suspense and the murder scene is in "Argento style".
But apart from that, this is a playful and lightweight homage to Alfred Hitchcock, that works fairly well within the constrains of the medium.It has a sympathetic lead in Elio Germano (but the female are more formulaic) and most actors are a lot better that what is common in an Argento-movie.
It Would be ludicrous in a huge way to compare this film to any past Argento works.Dario has sort of erased the formula board a little to start fresh but yet amazingly DYLH is as old fashioned as a thriller/murder mystery can get!
I just described my feelings after watching "Do you Love Hitchcock".In a traditional Movie sense, thriller or Giallo, this movie is better than the long awaited "Card Player".Forget what you hear from the alleged Argento experts there are none who could say this and that or compare,just enjoy it thats the general idea!
A clear and present homage to the great director Alfred Hitchcock in absolutely all that is done on screen, and more so, even to the art of film.After the start we get to know a real film buff, working in a room full of movie posters.
It is not meant to be a typical Argento film, but an homage to Hitcock, especially Rear Window and Strangers on a Train.Harry Potter lookalike Guilio (Elio Germano) spends the time, when he isn't studying German expressionist film (Nosferatu, for example), peering into Sasha's (Elisabetta Rocchetti) bedroom across the way (with binoculars).
After Sasha's mother is murdered, Guilio immediately thinks of Strangers on a Train (he is a film student, after all), and decides to do some snooping, much to the chagrin of his girlfriend Arianna (Cristina Brondo), who gets a short shrift.Things get a little dicey when the girls discover he's looking.
is the most playful film that Argento has ever made and it is constructed more or less as a means of referencing material from several Hitchcock classics such as Rear Window (voyeuristic protagonist, the apartments, the girlfriend endangering herself while the broken legged boyfriend watches on), Strangers on a Train (the murder set up theory), Dial M for Murder (the second murder set up theory), Psycho (the protagonist in the shower while something sinister occurs, the bathroom attack) and Vertigo (the thrilling rooftop sequence).
But if you can get past this – and the particularly bad dubbing and dialogue – you could have a pretty good time.The story has a murder being committed in the apartment across the street from a voyeuristic film student whose love of Hitchcock thrillers leads him to believe he knows who the murderer is.
But not everything what it seems to this die-hard movie fan.Directed by Dario Argento (Suspiria, Inferno, Mother of Tears) made an interesting plotted but OK suspense thriller with a few of the director's flamboyant touches.
Argento's "Do You Like Hitchcock?" plays like a homage to the Master of Suspense,which simply borrows many elements from Hitch works.The opening murder with a candle stick holder marks the film's only real gory killing.The story involves a young film student named Julio who begins to suspect a Hitchcockian deal between two young women when the obnoxious mother of the pretty girl across the way is murdered.Julio remembers seeing them talking about Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train".
Being a massive fan of Dario Argento, the release of a new Argento film is always an event as far as I'm concerned, and even though this made for TV movie is far from the director's best work; it's a well orchestrated Giallo-style tribute to the great Alfred Hitchcock, and is well worth seeing for both fans of Argento and fans of Hitchcock.
The film takes inspiration from across Hitchcock's filmography, and includes heavy handed 'tributes' to the likes of Rear Window, Dial 'M' for Murder and Strangers on a Train, as well as smaller nods to the likes of Psycho.
After the rich old lady who owns the apartment opposite is brutally murdered, Hitchcock obsessed film student Giulio (Elio Germano) comes to suspect that the dead woman's beautiful daughter Sasha (Elisabetta Rocchetti) has formed a murderous pact with casual friend Federica (Chiara Conti), basing their plans on an idea from an old Alfred Hitchcock movie.
As Giulio attempts to prove his theory, he injures his leg, and is forced to watch from his window as his girlfriend takes over his investigation...A made-for-TV tribute from one master of suspense to another, 'Do You Like Hitchcock?' sees Italian auteur Dario Argento taking key plot devices from Hitchcock's classics Strangers on a Train and Rear Window, plus elements from several of the director's other movies, and weaving his own tale of murder and mystery around them.
The result is a fairly predictable effort, particularly for those familiar with either director's work, but amongst all of the expected Hitchcockian twists and turns, and typically Argentoesque visuals, there are still several moments of originality and brilliance, including a tense scene in which our hero—who has just fractured his leg—desperately attempts to escape on his moped from a pursuer, and another great moment which sees Guilio attacked in his bathroom whilst his mother and her boyfriend struggle to gain entry to his apartment.Admittedly, the film does suffer a little from terrible dubbing, an unnecessarily over-dramatic Pino Donaggio score, and a rather silly ending (Guilio's sudden realisation that it is his voyeuristic nature that causes him so much trouble), and its made-for-TV status does mean that there is little in the way of gore, but although 'Do You Like Hitchcock?' is likely to be considered a minor entry in Argento's impressive filmography by most fans, it is undeniably fun viewing for anyone who appreciates the director's work—and that of his chubby-cheeked predecessor..
Argento crams as many Hitchcock things as he can, primarily references to Strangers on a Train and Dial M for Murder in the main plot.
He also goes a ways to make sure that the audience knows why the main character, film student Giulio, is the way he is, a kind of obnoxious, anxious and very curious voyeur who got started on his ways when he was young seeing two women kill a chicken in an orgy of delight.But the big problem in the film is that, for all of the tongue-in-cheek bows to Hitchcock, there isn't much in the way of originality when it comes to Argento's script.
Here we have film student/nerd Giulio (Elio Germano), an avid Hitchcock fan, who becomes obsessed with a sexy brunette who lives in the apartment complex opposite his; there is a murder, and Giulio becomes entangled in the rather bland string of Hitch homages that follow (particularly "Rear Window").
Argento has obviously seen better days, but there are still traces of his genius in this slow-moving TV movie about a kid obsessed with the films of Hitchcock who thinks a neighbor living across from him may have been murdered by someone he knows.
The murder itself is about the only gory moment in the movie, which will come as a disappointment to lovers of past Argento splatter classics like CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, TENEBRAE, DEEP RED, SUSPIRIA, THE PHANTOM and OPERA.
The film pays homage to STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, PSYCHO, VERTIGO, DIAL M FOR MURDER and REAR WINDOW.
I *loved* the *idea* of the Dario Argento movie "Do You Like Hitchcock?" Being an admirer and fanatic of the Master of Suspense myself, I was all for a movie that was not only inspired by Hitchcock's masterpieces, but made homage to them and incorporated their influence into its characters.
The idea of combining elements from films such as "Vertigo", "Psycho", "Strangers on a Train", "Dial M for Murder" and most notably "Rear Window" sounded like a real winner to me.
Argento has been called the Italian Hitchcock since his first film and this movie tries to pay homage but it falls apart on every level.
Frantically searching round,I spotted a TV movie by Argento,which I had been slightly uneasy over viewing,due to sadly not having seen that much of Alfred Hitchcock's work.With there being no other Argento titles in my sight,I decided to find out if you could still like the film,even without knowing Hitchcock.The plot:Taking a break from his film studying,student Julio opens the window of his flat and looks across the street.Appearing across the street like a dream,Julio spots a neighbour called Sasha undressing.Enjoying the rush of voyeurism,Julio starts to keep a close eye on Sasha,which leads to him seeing Sasha having an argument with her mum.Getting set to rent out a title from his friend Andrea's video store,Julio is caught by surprise,when he runs into Sasha at the store.Getting hold of the film Strangers on a Train just before a fellow sexy video customer, (what are the chances!) called Federica.As he leaves the shop,Julio notices Sasha & Federica deep in conversation.In the mood for a voyeurism hit later that night,Julio instead witnesses Sasha's mum getting brutally murdered by a black coat wearing stranger.As he calls the cops,Julio begins to fear that he is about to enter his own Hitchcock tale.View on the film:Originally designed to be the first episode of a 7 part Italian Thriller TV series, (which after the series budget was cut in half,led to this being the only filmed episode)co-writer/(along with Franco Ferrini) directing auteur Dario Argento & cinematographer Frederic Fasano open this stylish Giallo with a scene straight from a long forgotten Brothers Grimm story,which along with showing the beginning of Julio's voyeurism streak,also subtly recalls the witches from Argento's "three mothers" trilogy.Whilst he does include a handful of Hitchcock references,Argento gives this TV movie an eye-catching,feature film canvas.Argento scans the screen with ultra-stylised whip-pans showing Sasha's skin (played by an elegant Elisabetta Rocchetti,who also appears naked in the TV movie!)setting Julio's voyeurism weakness off.Along with the flesh & impressively blunt levels of blood,Argento also sinks the Giallo into a Film Noir atmosphere,with the use of water allowing Argento to rift on his past Deep Red,and to also scatter unrelenting rain across the screen,which builds up an excellent tense mood,as Julio tries to figure out which Hitchcock he is trapped in.Whilst the screenplay by Argento & Franco Ferrini is a little too focused on seeing how many homages it can include,the writers still make the Giallo mystery its own thing,thanks to flashbacks to Julio's childhood allowing the writers to make Julio's almost- stalker like obsessions block any attempt by Julio to get help in solving the murder.Entering the title looking like Harry Potter's geekier brother (is that even possible!) Elio Germano gives a wonderful performance as Julio,with Germano avoiding the easy sleaze-ball route that the character could have take,by giving Julio a real sincerity,and a real determination which heats up as Julio tries to find out how much the mysterious killer likes Hitchcock..
Since, however, it has been made by a director of the magnitude of Dario Argento, an influential master of horror, the result comes across as aggressively mediocre and even rather sad - almost to the point that, along with Il Cartaio and other recent bombs dished out by Argento, it could be pointed out as a sign of the rapidly encroaching senility of a once great artist.Built as a Hitchock shrine, the movie references, among others, Rear Window and Strangers on a Train: set in Turin (the same baroque, elegant city of Profondo Rosso), the film follows Giulio, a young man spying on his neighbours; when a woman is killed, movie geek Giulio suspects a Strangers on a Train-like arrangement in which two murderers switched their designated victims.Surprisingly flat set-pieces apart, what hurts more is the acting, with some of the worst performances in a movie by a major director you are likely to see in a long time.
You always feel, though, that Hitchcock is to be praised in this film and "Rear Window" especially gets a lot of love.If you want Argento with bite..look elsewhere.
Alas, "Ti piace Hitchcock" his 2005 made for television film doesn't quite live up to his previous work, although it is not a horrible movie.Argento sets his film in a Torino neighborhood where Giulio, a young student of cinema, and with a what appears to be an unlimited amount of time in his hands, loves to spy his neighbors from his window.
He discovers Sasha, a young woman who is always fighting with her mother about money.Giulio, who loves to watch old films in DVD format, meets Sasha at the neighborhood store where she is about to rent "Strangers on a Train", one of Hitchcock's best films.
This being a TV movie, there is little in the way of violence except for a great scene near the end of the film and the set-piece murder that kicks things off.
It's a real low point in the movie.The film's main Hitchcock inspirations are Rear Window and Strangers on a Train.
have much more in common with De Palma's Body Double than they do Hitchcock's Rear Window.Argento's films are known for their "look".
Yet even in those three scenes, the movie doesn't have the impact found in Hitchcock's (as well as Argento's) best films.
Dario Argento's homage to Alfred Hitchcock, and more specifically to "Rear Window", "Strangers On A Train" and "Dial M For Murder", is a minor entry in his filmography, but quite watchable all the same.
Give this a shot if you're into Hitchcock's films or are an unabashed Argento fan, though those looking for something approaching his earlier works will be severely disappointed here.Rated UR/R: Graphic Violence, Language and Nudity.
The support cast is also good, with the sexy Elisabetta Rocchetti, and for me the character of Giulio's girlfriend is a little weak.Conclusion: A basic murder story but I really enjoyed this Argento film that was made for TV.