The Lodger - includes 2012 Soundtrack [1927]

'The Lodger' is the second-earliest Hitchcock film known to survive today, and arguably the most famous of the silent films he made. The film concerns the titular Lodger, played by Ivor Novello, and the fear that runs through London as a series of murders are committed by a criminal who leaves a triangular card on each of his victims, marking himself 'The Avenger'. He soon takes a shine to Daisy Bunting, the daughter of the couple whom he rents a room off and love blossoms between the pair. Alerted by the lodger's dubious behaviour, Daisy's long-time admirer, a policeman named Joe, and Daisy's mother, notice that all of the clues to the Avengers murders point towards the lodger being the perpetrator...Though Hitchcock was only 27 when he made The Lodger, and three films into his career, it's fascinating to see a few glimpses of the style which would become so identifiable with him in the future. It's impressive to see just how capable he was even at this early stage, with the scene where the Lodger and Daisy kiss, as well as the urgent climax, both masterly and unforgettably directed. He'd obviously been watching a lot of German expressionistic films at the time, and it's surprising to see just how much influence those Weimar directors like F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang had on the young Hitchcock (check the stark lighting coming through the window for all the evidence you need of this). Despite taking inspiration from films like  Dr. Mabuse the Gambler  and  Nosferatu , The Lodger still feels like a Hitchcock film. It's a great film in its own right, with lots of trademark Hitchcock suspense, but it's also great to have this insight into his early career.This is the first film of the BFI's recent 'Save the Hitchcock 9' campaign to see home release. Over the last couple of years they have been raising money to ensure that the surviving early Hitchcock films could undergo extensive restorations, thereby preserving them for the future. So I was cautiously optimistic that this would look pretty good, taking into account the BFI's history with film restoration (see  The Great White Silence  if you want to see how good properly restored silent film can look), as well as Network DVD's very solid recent releases of classic films (see both  Odd Man Out  and  Things to Come ). Happily, I was not disappointed. The picture here is excellent, and surely the best it's looked since it's original release 85 years ago. Detail is excellent, and there are no signs of distracting damage. The biggest hole Blu-ray distributors usually fall into is using excessive DNR (noise reduction) to abolish film grain and give the image an unnatural look. The image is tinted, as it was originally, to show whether the scene is day or night, outside or inside. I'm relieved that there are no signs of aggressive DNR use here - film grain, though not overpowering, is easily detectable and more importantly, the film looks natural. Obviously this is still a very old film and so expectations should be adjusted slightly - this is not pin-sharp quality, but it is very, very impressive, and it's hard to imagine it looking any better.Unlike some of the bigger-budget films of this period, The Lodger never had an official soundtrack written for it, meaning that over the years any old accompaniment was added to it. In 1999 a full orchestral soundtrack was composed by Ashley Irwin. That soundtrack is not to be found on this release, instead we get a new 2012 soundtrack by Nitin Sawhney. It's actually a very impressive track, recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, and it's evident that a lot of time and thought has gone into how to make it fully complement the film. There is one rather large negative with the soundtrack, and that is that in two places in the film (one where the lodger and Daisy fall for each other, and another just before the fast-paced climax begins) lyrics and singing chime in, and suddenly you feel like you're not watching a Hitchcock film anymore, but a rather dubious pop video. This is certainly more jarring in the first instance. Depending on how much of a silent film purist you are will dictate how much this upsets you, but for me it was certainly very distracting. I don't completely disagree with the idea, and it is an excellent soundtrack, but they really should have included the 1999 soundtrack here, even as an extra feature. Finally, the sound itself is stereo.As far as extras go then, as well as the Blu-ray disc there is a 2-disc CD soundtrack by Nitin Sawhney and the London Symphony Orchestra, as well as a 19-minute interview with Sawhney himself. The final on-disc supplement is a HD image gallery with posters, production photographs etc. Last but not least, there's a 16-page booklet inside with details on the original novel as well as the production of the film itself.A quick summary of the technical details for anyone interested: Region B locked, 1x BD-25 disc, 1080p 1:33.1 picture. No subtitles at all on the disc.

......Major spoiler.....I wasn't interested in this being a Hitchcock movie as I've no interest in Hitchcock and never followed his movies - it didn't matter to me who had directed it. I wanted this movie for Ivor Novello and what a feast it is for any Novello enthusiast. I don't know if it's his best film as I haven't yet managed to see his other most famous movie The Rat, but it must be one of the two or perhaps three best. It's also a markedly well known British silent. Perhaps because of Hitchcock's involvement - I don't know. In that time it would have been Novello's involvement that made the movie famous.Rumour had it that Hitchcock didn't want Novello in this part and resented having to change the ending so as to clear the Lodger of murder/intent etc but the director had no choice as the movie goers wanted to see Novello. Whether or not this change from the original "was he wasn't he" plot pleases you if you've read the excellent book, I can't guess but if you are a Hitchcock fan you might well resent the change to accommodate some old actor you aren't interested in as the original ending would more suit a Hitchcock movie (I imagine)..... I don't mind the change at all as I can't imagine Novello really choosing to act a serial killer even though he did it seems often wish he was allowed to act "serious" parts but that was not what his matinee idol following wanted of him.If there is over-acting, etc, it is all part of this atmospheric and riveting movie and it works because it's Novello. Hitchcock's expressionist style works excellently too, a splendid partnership even if the director would rather have had another actor. Whatever he felt about Novello, the actor will have contributed massively at the time in this movie's success, indeed I seriously doubt if it would have become anything like as famous with an actor as famous as Novello "carrying it" whilst Hitchcock was so young and relatively unknown but nowadays of course, with Novello long dead and Hitchcock making masses of famous movies, the situation is reversed.Their next collaboration was the much less effective curiosity, Downhill, where the story line is rather bizarre - Novello commencing playing a senior schoolboy who takes the blame for a friend's misdeeds and suffers for his altruism - and it is very melodramatic and often over-acted. Downhill shows Hitchcock is not yet sure of himself, I think, as he could have I am absolutely sure done much more with this movie to make it a far more effective vehicle for Novello and could have directed Novello with more flair. Instead Hitchcock seems to just churn it out without any real care for the result. Whilst I'm not of course in any way a Hitchcock follower and can't say for sure and perhaps Hitchcock fans will like his work in this movie, my hunch is he just didn't bother, he simply didn't want another Novello movie (was he contracted to do it or wanted the money on the back of Novello's fame and popularity?) he really didn't probably like the famous star dictating the style to some extent and stealing the limelight (I don't say that in an unkind way, I mean that it may have been galling for this young director to not have as much control as he'd like of the movie and casting and having to produce a movie of a type that didn't appeal to him at all) so he just made it as easily as he could without much effort or respect for it and took the money and ran. Novello meantime as always put his heart and soul into what was not the best of stories but wasn't a disaster or certainly not then, and could have been better with some of the Hitchcock expressionism and a bit of Hitchcock enthusiasm.I imagine the Lodger is a good example of early Hitchcock as well as a splendid movie all round, but Downhill well I don't know. I would recommend it for Novello fans to view but Hitchcock fans I'd be surprised if they could appreciate it. The Lodger is absolutely something else!

I have to agree with many of the reviews here regarding the new soundtrack to this Hitchcock classic. Overwhelming is indeed the word.First off, the restoration is tremendous, tinting superb and picture quality very clean.The score is another matter. As a piece of music I can certainly see myself listening to it in isolation, and probably liking it more with each play. There are definite nods to both Psycho and especially North by Northwest, which is no bad thing. But as an accompaniment to a silent film it is just too constant and in-yer-face (or ears). At times more subtlety was needed, especially during the quieter and slower paced moments. All this I could just about live with. Lowering the entire volume does work, especially with no dialogue to consider.Unfortunately, that dreaded love song is really out of place here. Not needed and very jarring, when it did kick in, I was reminded of the start to an '80's pop video, set to images from a long forgotten silent movie. Composer Nitin Sawhney seems to have changed, or at least added something unintentional to the original film which to my mind is a big no-no. Thankfully, it doesn't last too long; just grin and bear it.Watching the interview with Sawhney before seeing the film, and listening to his thinking and work processes did seem to justify the end result. But seeing the movie as a whole, the score really does dominate for much of the time, which has to be a mistake.It would also be a mistake for anyone to judge this release solely on the negative reviews regarding the score. Buy it, watch it and decide for yourself.This is still a Hitchcock classic, and deserves to be seen.