Last Embrace (1979 Jonathan Demme)

Easily Demme's most Hitchcocky picture, emphasized by Miklos Rozsa's fabulous score which lends the film an entirely different weight. We seem to be in Spellbound / Vertigo territory in the main, with little references to Psycho, The Birds et al. in most enjoyable thriller based on Murray Teigh Bloom's novel 'The 13th Man', written by David Shaber (who taught screenwriting, though I have to say hasn't been associated with anything else of note - unless you count The Warriors - and who would?)

Roy Scheider is a fantastic actor who in the simplest of dialogue scenes actually looks like he's thinking and listening before answering, rather than just delivering a line. Janet Margolin is good in frankly nuts role. With John Glover and Sam Levene (you know, The Killers and Thin Man films), as a kind of Jewish detective, and Christopher Walken. Roger Corman isn't in this one.

As well as emulating the Master's view / POV travelling camera, Demme and photographer Tak Fujimoto use all sorts of lateral tracking shots, 360-degree rotations and intricate dolly shots, such as the one down the station platform as the train is coming in (giving a wonderful dynamic between the two forces in opposite motion). And he's doing that almost-into-camera thing which is so prevalent in Philadelphia. Even the titles (Pablo Ferro) are classy. Yes it's bonkers, but so cinematically done you don't care (a film lover's film, no question).

Whether or not we have films like Sylvia Scarlett any more is a moot point (Albert Nobbs was terrible) - but to not have scores by the likes of Rozsa any more is tragedy.

Review of 10 January 1995: 'Ludicrous thriller in Vertigo mould is well directed and benefits from lovely music. Scheider is edgily good'.