Peeping Tom is a 1960 British thriller directed by Michael Powell who, along with longtime collaborator Emeric Pressburger--under the name of their production company, The Archers--co-wrote and co-directed The 49th Parallel, Black Narcissus, and The Red Shoes.
In Peeping Tom, an insecure and withdrawn photographer named Mark gets his kicks by filming the women that he kills. The story and script are by Leo Marks, the cinematography is by Otto Heller, the editing is by Noreen Ackland, and the music is by Brian Easdale. The all British cast includes Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, Maxine Audley, and Pamela Green. Peeping Tom was controversial in its day, had a detrimental effect on Michael Powell’s career in the U.K, and was also cited by the National League of Decency as morally objectionable for its depictions of voyeurism and sadism.
Mark is a loner and has no friends except for his camera which he takes with him everywhere he goes. In the opening scene, he films a prostitute while murdering her.
Mark owns an apartment building that he inherited from his father. One day, he invites a tenant--a young woman named Helen--into his apartment and shows her home movies of his childhood. His father liked to photograph him sleeping and would put lizards in his bed to scare him. His father also liked to spy on people and film them with his camera. He even bought Mark a camera for his birthday. Helen is creeped out by his father but she is naive and too fascinated with Mark to suspect him of being like his father.
Mark has a studio above a magazine shop where he takes pictures of naked models. He also has a job as an assistant photographer on a movie set; his goal is to one day be a film director. One night, Mark and an aspiring actress named Vivian sneak onto the film set to shoot their own movie. Mark instructs Vivian to act afraid for a close-up shot and when she can’t, he shows her the spike on the leg of his camera tripod and kills her.
Helen lives with her blind mother, Ms. Stevenson, whose other senses are heightened and she knows that something is not right with Mark despite his normal appearance. She orders him to stay away from her daughter.
Vivian’s body is discovered on the movie set inside of a large trunk and Mark becomes the police inspector’s main suspect. With time running out, Mark turns his attention to completing the film documentary that his father originally started.
Peeping Tom takes acting to its logical extreme by comparing Mark and his victims with the bad actress of the film within this film called The Walls are Closing in. Where the film’s director cannot get this actress to act real, Mark gets his victims to act real through the use of fear.
The difference between the actress on the film set and Mark’s victims are that artificial--or vicarious--experiences can never be a true substitute for real experiences. The old man who buys the pictures of naked women in the store is not getting a real woman and any stimulation he gets from masturbating won’t give him the same experience as a real-live woman, either. As the nude pictures are to the old man so is murdering women and witnessing their horror on film are to Mark--an autoerotic experience to be relived and enjoyed each time he wishes to play these films in the privacy of his home.
This symbolic contrast in how we respond to indirect stimulation and direct stimulation is clearly illustrated by the actress on the film set who can’t generate the real emotions the director wants; however, upon seeing Vivian’s dead body in the trunk, the same actress has no trouble generating real emotions. Also, in the scene where Mark and Vivian are on the film set alone and he instructs her to act scared, she tells him that she can’t act scared because she feels relaxed with him. But when he shows her his true colors and closes in for the kill, Vivian gives him the performance of her life because she is reacting to something that is real!
This metaphor of autoeroticism as it pertains to acting and realism also explains why the film ends the way that it does with Mark killing himself in the same manner that he killed his victims. Again, using the old man in the store buying pictures of naked women as an analogy, Mark experiences the agony of his victims vicariously as a form of masturbation. To get the experience firsthand--as someone going from porn to the real thing--Mark impales himself with the weapon he murdered his victims with.
Peeping Tom reminds me of Reservoir Dogs. Like Mr. PInk, Ms. Stevenson’s intuition is more reliable than her ability to see. There are no graphic scenes in the film, not even the sight of blood, and no nudity. Unlike movies today, the film’s real horror occurs within your imagination. Again, Criterion did a great job. I have the DVD and the picture and sound are terrific. If you like Psycho you will probably like Peeping Tom. I know I did.
No comments:
Post a Comment