Under Capricorn. 1949. USA. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screenplay by James Bridie, from the play by John Colton and Margaret Linden, based on the novel by Helen Simpson. With Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten, Michael Wilding. 35mm print. 116 min.
Hitchcock returned to England to film this historical drama set in colonial Australia and photographed in Technicolor by Jack Cardiff. Though it disappointed audiences at the time of its release (largely because Hitchcock had dared to depart from the suspense genre), its audacious use of extreme long takes endeared it to the emerging generation of auteurist critics. Jean-Luc Godard once proclaimed it Hitchcock’s best. Print courtesy ConstellationCenter Collection at the Academy Film Archive.