Park Chan-wook and Alfred Hitchcock

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If you asked cineastes on which auteur reminds them the most of Hitchcock, most of them would probably choose someone like David Fincher or Brian De Palma. Fincher and De Palma are solid choices, but they don't feel like clean extensions of the Hitchcock style as there are some noticeable differences in how restraint is used, the handling of tone, and the complex dissection of the characters. Fincher's characters, for example, are more emotionally restrained and the stylistic cinematography provides consistently colder tones. Hitchcock's camera is going to stay old fashion, will be in strong lighting from time to time, and on occasion, will opt for some light-hearted melodrama.

A stronger comparison and one that some might think is ridiculous at first is Park Chan-wook. Yes, the guy that directed Vengeance trilogy, The Haindmaiden and those other violent thrillers. I know, its a poorer comparison if there are these overly explicit sequences like, guy taking out anger in beating people up to death with hammer in the hallway (Oldboy). 

But there is a lot of reason to believe that Hitchcock wanted more violence in his movies, because the hays code at the time would place restrictions on such things. Hitchcock though was certainly clever in the way he situated his characters, the way he directed them, and the way he had the actors speak heir lines.

In Suspicion (1941), the source novel (Before the Fact by Francis Iles): the husband is essentially a murderer, and he poisons his wife. Hitchcock wanted to keep that ending. Cary Grant’s character, Johnnie, was supposed to kill Joan Fontaine’s Lina — which fits perfectly with Hitchcock’s ongoing interest in the “danger lurking in relationships.”

The Hays Office (and RKO, terrified of tarnishing Cary Grant’s star image) refused. They wouldn’t allow a popular male actor to be revealed as a wife-killer. So Hitchcock had to twist the ending into something more ambiguous — Johnnie might be dangerous, but in the final cut, Lina is portrayed as paranoid and mistaken. It was cleverly intentional. Proof that if the code never existed, Hitchcock's films would probably be very different, probably more violent—like Park's thrillers.

The most Hitchcockian film in Park's oeuvre is easily Stoker, because it is pretty much a more stylized version Shadow of a Doubt. Park didn't write the screenplay, but it showcases a huge amount of his directorial talent in how he was able to take such a thinly written script and turn it into a masterclass thriller with dynamic camera shots and angles that contain the very ethos of what made Hitchcock's trademark attempts extraordinary for its time. The long, slow panning up Norman Bates's staircase and dolly towards the room with his "mother" talking" parallel's Park’s drawn-out camera motions here, which meticulously builds tension and sustains audience engagement. In Stoker, every frame demonstrates how Park channels Hitchcock’s obsession with visual storytelling, turning ordinary moments into extraordinary suspense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ExxCKA-b0U

A clip from Park's Stoker (2013) where we see a camera capturing a character perspective that almost feels elusive, blurring out his face until it is revealed that is face is in the mirror's reflection.

They seem to share common ground for how they reveal massive plot twists. Hitchcock often structures his films so the audience knows more than the characters, heightening tension: in Psycho, we’re aware of Norman Bates’ instability before the final reveal of his dual identity, and in Vertigo, the full scope of Judy’s deception isn’t revealed until the climax, making the audience complicit in the suspense. Park Chan-wook employs a similar strategy: in Oldboy, subtle hints about Oh Dae-su’s past and his connection to Mi-do build throughout the film, but the true horror of his situation isn’t revealed until the final shocking twist. Likewise, Stoker slowly hints at Uncle Charlie’s dangerous intentions, keeping the audience on edge, but the full extent of his psychosexual obsession is only unveiled at the film’s turning point. 

Lets also reframe this argument with a question like this: If Hitchcock was still living today and still making films, what director would represent what his style would evolve into by now? Park Chan-wook is still the answer.

References

(2013, Feb 21) Stoker Movie CLIP - Sheriff Comes Calling (2013) Nicole Kidman, Mia Wasikowska Movie HD [Video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ExxCKA-b0U