Obsessively pursuing art is the focus of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom (1960). The parallels to artistic pursuit as it pertains to a filmmaker are hard to miss, as are the Freudian psychoanalytics. Both of which are apt as Powell (The Red Shoes) and screenwriter Leo Marks (Twisted Nerve) originally intended to write a script about Freud, but was changed when a competing project came to light, and the script was morphed into the masterpiece we have today. The spider-web of subtext is woven into the DNA of this film, from Powell’s personal experiences as a director to the Freudian parental and perverted sexual desires of our lead, all coalescing into a thriller the likes of which are hard to repeat.
Anna Massey as Helen Stephens in PEEPING TOM. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
You can trace the origins of the slasher subgenre to this film, complete with a stalking predatory killer, iconic weapon, and weepy final girl. On one level, this film completely works for those seeking that thrill, but what makes Peeping Tom an integral part of cinematic history is the way the story is told, and the meta subtext. Movie making is a kind of madness, and there is a danger that it could take a hold of you and eat you up; the point is so brilliantly made when the killer turns the camera, and the weapon, on himself as an act of suicide — an all-consuming desire that devours you.
Anna Massey as Helen Stephens and Karlheinz Böhm as Mark Lewis in PEEPING TOM. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
The themes of trauma and its cyclical nature are welcome and kind of surprising given that this was made in the ‘60s. The main character, Mark (Karlheinz Böhm), was repeatedly abused as a child being the subject of his father’s psychological experiments, the profound effect this trauma had on him as a young child translates to the twisted way Mark uses his power and ultimate control over fear, and maybe even death. In the end, this just becomes a cycle of trauma, particularly for Helen (Anna Massey), who now has to deal with the aftermath of Mark’s killing spree.
There are more than a few comparisons of Powell’s work to that of Alfred Hitchcock. Chris Rodley’s documentary A Very British Psycho (1997) compares Psycho (1960) and Peeping Tom, which is fitting as both have serial killers with a parental relationship that would make Freud blush. But Powell’s depiction is more of a chastisement of British culture and the movie studios at the time. Hitchcock had his moments where Vertigo (1958) dabbles in voyeurism and Rear Window (1954) explores it but in different way, as if the audience is looking in the windows with James Stewart’s L.B. Jefferies. Peeping Tom takes voyeurism to the extreme and almost turns it on the audience who has a morbid fascination with what is happening on screen; we aren’t looking through the camera with Mark, we are watching Mark, watching him create with his camera. What Powell understands about how art and the soul are intertwined, and how he puts that on screen, is more than a little unsettling.
Powell never letting the audience see the footage of Mark’s snuff films makes it feel worse, and when Helen stumbles across one, we get to see it all play on her face. Mark Lewis was on a quest to see fear itself and, in that moment with Helen seeing the murder happen, knowing it was her lover’s film, we get to see exactly what Mark has been chasing, but it’s in reaction to the atrocity of his actions, not the gratifying release Mark was hell-bent on finding.
Karlheinz Böhm as Mark Lewis in PEEPING TOM. Photo courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
The 4K transfer is really outstanding; the colors are so rich and vibrant, colors that already popped, but with this upgrade, it adds so much to the experience. Couple that with the upgrade to the sound and the thrills really pop off the screen.
There are no new special features for this release. Some of the features date back to its original laserdisc release in 1993. The special features are as follows:
Peeping Tom Special Features:
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Two audio commentaries, one featuring film historian Ian Christie and one featuring film scholar Laura Mulvey
- Introduction by filmmaker Martin Scorsese
- Interview with editor Thelma Schoonmaker
- Documentary about the film’s history, featuring interviews with Schoonmaker, Scorsese, and actor Carl Boehm
- Documentary about screenwriter Leo Marks
- Program on the film’s restoration
- Trailer
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by author Megan Abbott
If that doesn’t get you excited to upgrade your copy, I don’t know what will.
Available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection May 14th, 2024.
For more information, head to the official Criterion Collection Peeping Tom webpage.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Home Release, Recommendation
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