Peeping Tom

Saw Peeping Tom, a fairly fun 1960s psychodrama. The protagonist is a perpetually clenched German guy who films couples smooching in the park and kills a prostitute in the opening sequence. It's not very realistic but fairly lurid, so it's not dull. The protagonist reveals that his father researched the psychological effects of fear on children, using him (the protagonist) as a guinea pig. Refreshingly, the film reveals this via a monologue delivered in tight close-up. In modern films, a flashback would be almost mandatory (as would be imagery of creepy children, broken dolls, and (oh I dunno) butterfly collections or something.) Stripped of all of this cheap imagery, only hysterical performances remain. I prefer the hysteria and the change from easy visuals is refreshing.

The protagonist's house-mate (he lives in a boarding house) is a children's book author. She tries to "save" him with her love but of course, in her sweet naiveté, she has no idea what she's getting into. Only her mother, a bitter, blind, alcoholic, sister monster, can see through his facade. This leads to an amazing showdown late in the film, where the lighting is a very modern set of harsh whites, blues, and deep blacks. The film anticipates the garish, high-contrast colors of Suspiria. Near the final scenes, the protagonist's girlfriend is talking to him over his shoulder. Her face is brilliantly lit, but her mouth and jaw is in silhouette, her black lips whispering into his ear.

Actually, now that I think about it, the visual tone of the film is extremely modern. There's the sharp contrast between the mundane "real" world and the scary nightmare times. There's grainy old home-movies and a film-developer room that's obviously cave-like and lair-like. The bright colors of the time make it look a bit dated, but the film could easily have been written last year.

Going into the film, I was pretty sure it was going to be some kind of sleazy leer into the life of some poor, crazy, mixed-up kid who just wants to film people and is obviously pants-on-head crazy. There might be some stab at post-modern deconstruction, but mostly there would be tits, hunched shoulders, and wild gesticulating. And to be fair, there's a fair deal of gesticulation and a voyeur angle (which I would explore if I weren't so tired) but the film is also well put together, hysterical, and a lot of fun.

Edit: the same director created The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus, and The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, all of which I loved. It's little wonder I liked this one.