Filmmakers David Fincher and Kent Jones could be preparing to revisit the idea behind their Hitchcock/Truffaut documentary, this time with legendary horror filmmaker John Carpenter as the subject.
The project is not officially announced, and it sounds like Fincher and Jones are still in the early discussion stage. However, The Film Stage has learned that Carpenter has emerged as a filmmaker Fincher believes would be an ideal subject for what he describes as a 21st-century version of Hitchcock/Truffaut.
Speaking with The Film Stage, Jones explained Fincher’s idea:
“[It] would be—this is his words—sort of like Hitchcock/Truffaut for the 21st century. Meaning that it addresses the technological stuff that’s happened since Hitchcock and Truffaut passed away, and the circumstances that have changed, etc. David was the one who said, ‘Actually, what about John Carpenter?’ He’s a really interesting guy who’s really stuck to his guns and also is a really, really formidable filmmaker.’”
For Carpenter fans, the possibility is exciting. The filmmaker has spent decades bringing a distinctive approach to filmmaking, creating movies including Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, and In the Mouth of Madness. A documentary examining Carpenter’s filmmaking philosophy, his relationship with technology, and his influence on subsequent generations of directors could be fascinating.
What Is Hitchcock/Truffaut?
To understand what Fincher is proposing, it helps to understand Hitchcock/Truffaut.
Directed by Kent Jones in 2015, the documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut examines the historic series of conversations between Alfred Hitchcock and French filmmaker François Truffaut. In 1962, Truffaut traveled to Hollywood and spent approximately a week interviewing Hitchcock about his movies and approach to filmmaking. The conversations eventually became the foundation for Truffaut’s landmark book Hitchcock (a.k.a. Hitchcock/Truffaut), originally published in 1966.
The interviews were more than a conventional celebrity conversation. Truffaut was attempting to understand Hitchcock’s craft in detail, discussing individual films and the director’s ideas about suspense, visual storytelling, and the mechanics of filmmaking. The resulting book became influential among filmmakers and cinephiles, helping further establish Hitchcock as an auteur rather than just a commercially successful director.
Jones’ documentary brought that historic conversation to the screen. It used archival recordings and photographs from the Hitchcock-Truffaut meetings, footage from Hitchcock’s movies, and interviews with modern filmmakers discussing Hitchcock’s work. Among those filmmakers was David Fincher, along with Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, James Gray, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Olivier Assayas, Richard Linklater, Arnaud Desplechin, Peter Bogdanovich, and Paul Schrader.
Fincher’s suggestion of Carpenter as the focus of a new documentary makes sense. Like Hitchcock, Carpenter has demonstrated an instantly recognizable filmmaking style while working across commercial genres.
A John Carpenter Documentary Could Go Beyond Horror
Although Carpenter is best known for horror and genre filmmaking, the documentary could explore a lot more than his horror movies. Halloween changed the slasher genre. The Thing became one of the most celebrated examples of practical creature effects and paranoid science fiction horror. Escape from New York and Big Trouble in Little China demonstrated Carpenter’s ability to bring different styles of action (and comedy) to the screen. They Live used science fiction as a vehicle for social commentary.
Carpenter also composed much of the music for his own movies, helping create an unmistakable audiovisual identity.
A filmmaker-to-filmmaker discussion could examine not only Carpenter’s individual movies, but also his approach to directing, editing, cinematography, music, visual effects, and storytelling.
Is the John Carpenter Documentary Actually Happening?
For now, there is no official announcement that the documentary is in production.
Jones’ comments make clear that the idea is still being discussed. He described the project as conversations between himself and Fincher about possible filmmakers to explore, with Fincher ultimately suggesting Carpenter. There is currently no announced title, release date, production schedule, or confirmation that Carpenter has signed on.
Still, the idea of David Fincher and Kent Jones collaborating on a Hitchcock/Truffaut-style examination of John Carpenter is certainly intriguing. Would you like to see this documentary happen?
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