Robin Wood, 1931-2009

Robin Wood

Has it already been two years? It will be in December and yet it seems like yesterday when I was stunned to learn that Robin Wood died. To the Hitchcock fan, Wood's passing may have gone unnoticed. To the Vertigo lover and Hitchcock scholar, the loss was painful. I have had a handful of "virtual" mentors for my life and work. They are in the order of appearance in my life: Isaac Asimov, Alfred Hitchcock, Groucho Marx, Graham Greene and Robin Wood. Wood's life and his work on Hitchcock have had a greater impact with each passing year. His kind words about my books, perhaps the most meaningful. The French certainly placed Alfred Hitchcock on the map, but it was Robin Wood in his seminal Hitchcock's Film (later revised as Hitchcock's Films Revisited)who took us in to the world of HITCHCOCK as an artist equal to Shakespeare. His essays on Vertigo are required reading for those who love the film--and we are so fortunate to have essays that bracket two different readings from opposite ends of Wood's life and cinematic experience. This tribute from Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism is an excellent starting point.  The essays on Psycho are up front, but continue on to experience the full depth and broad vision that Robin Wood brought to film analysis and criticism.


Click this entry's headline to be taken to the pdf tribute from Movie.