Spellbound

Friday, August 24 - Sunday, August 26, 2012

35mm print “In 1945, Freud & Co were beginning to have a profound influence on American thinking, so armed with a script by Ben Hecht and the services of a consultant, Hitchcock decided to ‘turn out the first picture on psychoanalysis’. The story is simple enough: Bergman is a psychoanalyst who falls in love with her new boss Peck, and when it’s discovered that he has a Problem (an amnesiac, he may also be a killer), goes to work on his memory. The characterisation is also straightforward, with a maternal Bergman fascinated by father figures (a delightful cameo from Michael Chekhov) and young boys (Peck, suitably artless). But SPELLBOUND is also a tale of suspense, and Hitchcock embellishes it with characteristically brilliant twists, like the infinite variety of parallel lines which etch their way through Peck’s mind.” – Time Out (London)

“An intriguing Hitchcockian study of role reversal, with doctors and patients, men and women, mothers and sons inverting their assigned relationships with compelling, subversive results.” – Dave Kehr

• Country USA
• Rating NR
• Year 1945
• Running Time 111 minutes
• Director Alfred Hitchcock

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.