Brian De Palma names the director who “advanced the form of cinema”
The New Hollywood era saw various filmmakers transform cinema with their shocking and boundary-pushing movies, and the work of Brian De Palma was no exception. He began making films in the 1960s, often working within the documentary realm.
Many of De Palma’s early films featured overtly political tones, and he even created movies for the NAACP. Taking inspiration from many foreign and arthouse directors, he honed a style that would appeal to both critics and widespread audiences, receiving his big break with 1976’s Carrie. Adapted from Stephen King’s novel of the same name, the movie boosted the careers of De Palma, King, and lead actor Sissy Spacek, and it remains one of the decade’s greatest horror movies.
From there, De Palma continued making movies that contained significant amounts of violence, such as Scarface, Blow Out (inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up), Dressed to Kill, Carlito’s Way, and Body Double. He has had a significant influence on modern cinema, with Quentin Tarantino citing him as a huge inspiration in particular.
Many cinematic techniques, such as di-opt or split-focus shots, have become associated with De Palma. At the same time, he also borrowed heavily from others, including Alfred Hitchcock. The legendary director is widely heralded as one of the greatest, and De Palma would likely be inclined to call him the most important filmmaker of all time. “Here’s one of the few directors who advanced the form of cinema,” De Palma told Rolling Stone, adding, “Anybody who knows anything about film grammar cannot help but be snowed under by Hitchcock. It’s like studying Bach.”
De Palma’s love of the crime and thriller genre comes from the work of Hitchcock, who is known as the ‘King of Suspense’. Keeping audiences on their toes, constantly wondering what could happen next, and guessing who is responsible for the action are all vital aspects of Hitchcock’s approach to filmmaking.
Take Vertigo, for example, which still shocks viewers to this day. Upon its release, it truly stunned audiences with its narrative twists and turns, which have exerted a significant impact over modern thrillers. Psycho, perhaps his most famous work, utterly transformed cinema with its complete disregard for rules and convention. Hitchcock killed off the main character, changing the tone of the movie and leaving audiences confused and amazed.
De Palma has studied these movies meticulously to figure out how to create similar levels of suspense, shock and uncertainty within his own films. In some instances, he has even used plots from certain Hitchcock movies as the basis for his own. De Palma’s Body Double was significantly inspired by Vertigo (the clue is in the name of De Palma’s film). The filmmaker put a modern spin on the movie, centring on a character who loses his role as an actor because of his claustrophobia, mirroring James Stewart’s Scotty, who retires from his job as a detective because of his fear of heights and subsequent vertigo.
Hitchcock’s frequent exploration of voyeurism creeps into De Palma’s work as well, as evidenced by Blow Out and Dressed To Kill. He even paid homage to Psycho in the latter film, too, by using similar plot devices to challenge the audience’s expectations of the narrative.
