On Kim Novak and the spirit of Alfred Hitchcock: Alexandre O. Philippe returns to the KVIFF

A year after his last visit, cinephile and film historian Alexandre O. Philippe has returned to KVIFF. This time, he presented his documentary Kim Novak’s Vertigo. Ahead of the film’s premiere in Venice last year, Hollywood star Kim Novak received an honorary Golden Lion.

As the director revealed during a discussion with the audience, however, this almost did not happen. “She was really scared to go up on stage; she was afraid that people didn’t like her. I spent two weeks trying to persuade her. When the audience in Venice gave her a ten-minute standing ovation after the film, she realised they loved her. That changed the beliefs she held within herself,” the filmmaker said.

Philippe began by explaining why he had decided to make a documentary about Kim Novak. “I had been working for some time on another film about Vertigo, focusing almost obsessively on just one scene of that film. And I thought to myself that I had to get in touch with Kim Novak – she’s over ninety now. I wrote to her manager, but for a long time I heard nothing back. Then, exactly two years ago, while I was here in Karlovy Vary, I received a long email saying that Kim would take part in the filming. Her manager also wanted me to make a film about Kim,” Philippe recalled.

He then explained why, unlike in his previous films, he appears in the new documentary himself. “That was my idea. Or rather, my intuition. At its heart, it is also a film about our friendship, which developed during filming. So it’s good that I can be seen there. I also appear in my other film about Vertigo, and in the film about Nosferatu too, so perhaps that was a turning point in my career and I’m becoming a bit like Michael Moore,” Philippe laughed. He assured the audience that he remains in touch with the silver screen legend, who is now 93 years old.

In the film, Philippe deliberately chose not to focus on Novak’s romantic relationships or on explaining why she left Hollywood at the height of her career. “I wanted her to tell the story of her life as she sees it. She never liked being portrayed as someone she wasn’t. So I wanted her to be herself in the film,” the director explained. He also admitted how deeply moved he was that Novak had opened up to him completely.

When a question was raised during the discussion about the actress’s relationship with Vertigo director Alfred Hitchcock, Philippe began teasing his next film. “We shot a lot of footage together, and some of it will feature in my next film. But I can say that she loved Hitchcock. A few months ago, I was at her place and we were talking about Vertigo, and Kim had the idea of holding a séance to summon his spirit. You’ll see that at the end of my next film, The Fall. And what happened there is crazier than you can imagine!” said the Swiss-born filmmaker, teasing the documentary that he may screen at KVIFF next year.