One of the films I watched over the Christmas holiday was Alfred Hitchcock’s “Shadow Of A Doubt.” I watched it because I was in the midst of watching several Alfred Hitchock titles recently released on Blu-ray, I watched it because it’s a great movie that I hadn’t seen in many years, and I watched it because I suspect it is the spiritual godfather of Park Chan-wook’s first American film, “Stoker,” which I’ll be seeing in just a few days here at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival.
If you’re not familiar with “Shadow Of A Doubt,” it tells the story of a bright young woman named Charlie (Teresa Wright) who is excited when her beloved Uncle Charlie (Joseph Cotten) comes to stay with her family. When she begins to suspect that her uncle may be a killer on the run from the law, the film turns into an exercise in tension. “Stoker,” written by Wentworth Miller and Erin Cressida Wilson, tells the story of a young woman named India (Mia Wasikowska) whose father dies. An Uncle Charlie she never knew about shows up, played by Matthew Goode, and moves in with India and her mother (Nicole Kidman), and the first trailer made it look like it also turns into an exercise in tension.
Obviously the lesson here is that you can never ever trust an Uncle Charlie, no matter what.
We’ve got five new images from the film today as a preview, and I’ll be reviewing the film as soon as it premieres to the public in a few days. I’m excited to see what Park Chan-wook does with the material and with that cast, and this is just one of the many Sundance titles that has me excited to be here again.
Make sure you check back here at HitFix often every day during the festival, as we’ve got a team in place that should keep a steady stream of reviews and interviews coming in, including on-the-spot video and highlights. Our goal every year is to get even better at making you feel like you’re here at the festival with us, and you’ll see Dan Fienberg, Greg Ellwood, Guy Lodge, Kristopher Tapley, Katie Hasty and myself all filing pieces in what we hope will be a Sundance round robin of everything you need and want to know about what’s happening here in Park City.
“Stoker” will arrive in limited US release on March 1, 2013.