Torn curtain (1966)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 1966
	Director: Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho, The Birds)
	Actors: Paul Newman (The Towering Inferno), Julie Andrews (The Sound of Music), Lila Kedrova
	Country: USA
	Genre: Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 03.03.2014, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: During the cold war, Professor Michael Armstrong (Newman) travels behind the Iron Curtain, followed by his fiancee (Andrews). This will not help him accomplish his task in the already very little time he has.
Review: Torn Curtain displays the best of what Alfred Hitchcock could do in suspense and you can recognize all the key elements like the romantic story, the McGuffin (a formula that need to be found) and the enemies right on the heels of the hero. After watching Torn Curtain I can really understand the quote from the Master of suspense printed on the cover of the Blu-ray box-set: "Always make the audience suffer as much as possible". I didn't really know where the movie was going (as usual I watched it without even knowing the synopsis to have an open mind and no expectations) but once I got it I had no time to relax anymore, as the task of the hero that you thought would take some weeks has to be done in a matter of hours! Quite unrealistic, but very efficient to keep the viewer glued to his seat. The images are beautiful, the music sparse and efficient and the actors quite excellent. I was impressed in particular by the small role of the Countess Kuchinska that appears towards the end of the movie, played wonderfully by Lila Kedrova. The character has a troubled past and present and it is not easy to convey this in a few minutes of apparition, but Lila Kedrova did something magic. I believed to be in the presence of a real person and not an actress, which does not happen very often. It seems Hitchcock was impressed as well because it looks like he gave her more screen time than he originally planned. Last remark: Torn Curtain contain an excellent scene of hide-and-seek in a museum, without a word but only the sounds of footsteps. It is the scene that inspired Brian de Palma (big Hitchcock disciple) for a similar scene that I also liked in Dressed to Kill.
Rating: 9 /10