The Lodger - includes 2012 Soundtrack CD [DVD] [1927]

There are two things to consider about this: the restoration and the new soundtrack.

The restoration is utterly impeccable as far as I can judge. There is not a speck or scratch on the entire presentation, and the tints for each of the scenes render beautifully. There is still the warmth of age with faintly inconsistent colours to the tints, but I think any clearer and it would start to lose its authenticity. It literally is the case that you can pick out the individual stray hairs on Ivor Novello's head. Particular highlights for me include the 'flashback', where the Lodger reveals his story to Daisy (which is a beautifully contrasted scene, lighting-wise), and the love scene where they lingeringly kiss: it is a beautifully shot and glowing piece of romantic imagery, occasionally equalled but rarely surpassed in the rest of Hitchcock's output.

The score I think will divide people. I was present at the premiere of this restoration, where Nitin Sawhney conducted his band and the London Symphony Orchestra, and it came across really well. On the DVD in your front room though, I'm only 90% convinced.

The score itself is excellent, delicately orchestrated. Daisy's theme is brilliant: slightly kooky, with some brilliant syncopated rhythms as the strings rise through the basic ditsy theme. The first thing to get your head around is that Sawhney has seen fit to reference Bernard Herrmann quite prominently throughout the score, so we have clear nods (or even wildly deep bows) to North By Northwest and Psycho, and a hint of Vertigo too. I must admit, my heart sank when I heard the two or three 'Psycho Murder Scene' strings, which punctuated little points in the film. But I think it took almost a conscious effort to 'be okay' with this, actually the score holds together really well I think.

The other thing to get your head around is the use of vocals in two points of the narrative. When Daisy and the Lodger are growing close, Sawhney deftly treats the sequences like pop videos, and has written songs with words to express what the characters are feeling. In concept it works reasonably well, but I've got to say I think a lot of Hitchcock fans are going to reject this.

The question is: do you take someone else's authored work and author your own on top of it? Or, more simply, should silent films have speaking (or sinigng) in them? Sawhney in his question and answer session was quite relaxed about having done this, but the overall effect is I think to draw you away from the Lodger and challenge you with a whole new artform: the 'voiced' silent movie. I'd argue that at these points the soundtrack ceases to 'support' the movie, and instead becomes part of it, changing it. Sawhney mentioned in his Q&A about how nice it was not to have a director to placate, and I think this is one of the areas he may have been overruled.

And yet, Herrmann was allowed the rule of the roost at times, so who knows? Be prepared, though, Hitchcock purists. This was the thing that, live, I thought worked ok, but on the DVD jars somewhat.

But, get it for the restoration, for the love of Hitch!

This is a superb restoration of the classic silent Hitchcock film, 'The Lodger', which stars a very expressive and 'over-the-top' Ivor Novello as a suspected serial killer. The new musical score by Nitin Sawhney is splendid: atmospheric, flexible, and with some interesting motifs deliberately reminiscent of Bernard Hermann (Hitchcock's greatest film composer). The only element of the score which did irritate me was the repetitive use of the famous high-strings 'Psycho' murder music (the screeching violins during the murder in the shower). If Nitin had used this theme only once, it would have been OK - but several times was too much and rather heavy-handed, in my opinion. Nevertheless, I think the score is, overall, first-class and truly enriches the atmosphere of a filmic masterpiece (in some ways, I don't think Hitchcock ever surpassed 'The Lodger'). The picture quality is amazingly good. The restorers have done a fantastic job. In fine, I thoroughly recommend this DVD (which contains an interview with Nitin Sawhney, plus his score on separate CDs) to all who love the work of the great Alfred Hitchcock, or who are interested in 'silent' (but highly expressive) cinema.

So. Do you come to read this review from having an interest in Hitchcock or Sawhney? Well, I write this as someone who has a strong interest in the former and until yesterday hadn't heard any of Sawhney's work.

The film is what it is - a seminal part of the Hitchcock catalogue with hints all the way through of cinematic and plot traits that will be seen again and again in his later work. The acting reflects the style of 1926, containing both beautifully fully expressive moments in equal measure with those that we'll now see as being hammed-up beyond belief. Nevertheless, the film's place in history cannot be denied.

As an owner of the previous 2000 VHS re-master, it must be said that this is vastly superior in every way. The print has been completely cleaned so that you can now see the glint in the characters' eyes. Equally important, the tints that that were such an intrinsic part of setting the film's mood have been lovingly restored. Now, it is not only a black and white film, but a blue, pink, yellow and brown one too.

But the real plus here is the new score. The previous score by Jody Talbot was workmanlike and appropriate but this new score is more distinctive and brings out what for me are the two overriding strengths of Hitchcock films, the suspense naturally (with (too?) many tips of the hat to Bernard Hermann), but also the romance. The introduction of two songs to express the romance during the chess game scene and the death of the sister is very bold. Doubtless, some will feel that the moods they invoke are inappropriate as an official accompaniment to an 85 year old film. The lyrics also add a major amount of new narrative information that may not accord with Hitchcock's original intended interpretation. However, this must have been sanctioned by the BFI and I must say that they work for me! Now, this is all going to come down to personal taste but I'd say they are the highlights of the work. The marrying of music and image during `Daisy's song' is exquisite (brought a tear to my eye) and could, I suggest, be a music video `MTV hit'.

Well done everyone connected with this work. Now I must go to check out more of Sawhney's work!

PS. The DVD comes with a 2 disc CD set of the soundtrack. Not sure why you can't buy the DVD only, but there you go - that's marketing!