Review of Peeping Tom (1960) by Matt W — 02 Sep 2009

Peeping Tom (1960).

Peeping Tom is a 1960 psychological thriller film by the British film director Michael Powell. The film is an horrific tale of voyeurism, serial murder and child abuse. The story revolves around a young man who murders women while using a portable movie camera to record their dying expressions of terror. Peeping Tom was a controversial film on initial release and the critical reviews of the film finished Powell's career. However, the film earned a cult following and over the last thirty years has received a critical reappraisal that not only salvaged Powell's reputation but also earned the film a re-evaluation.

The film is about the voyeurism of the audience as they watch the protagonist's actions. For example, Roger Ebert, in his review of the film, states that "The movies make us into voyeurs. We sit in the dark, watching other people's lives. It is the bargain the cinema strikes with us, although most films are too well-behaved to mention it." If this reading is accepted, Lewis is an allegory of the director of a horror film. In horror movies, the directors kill victims, often innocents, to provoke responses from the audiences and to manipulate their responses.

There is a scene towards the beginning of the film in which an elderly man goes into the tobacco shop of which our protagonist works at and tries his best to buy some erotic images. He becomes increasingly uncomfortable as he tries to ask without using any words that would suggest him to be a "pervert" and struggles deeply when a young girl walks in. The man at the till of the shop understands the torture he must be undergoing and shows him the erotic images on sale. When the elderly man has chosen the images that fulfil his need, the man at the till places them in a bag with a label on it reading "Educational Books" along with a newspaper so no one would suspect him of buying this "filth".

This scene is quite a humorous one to observe, however, it does contain a satirical insight on modern society's need to censor. Powell is portraying to the audience his feelings towards censorship. I feel that the elderly man is a metaphor for film makers such as Michael Powell. The censorship in those times did not allow for graphic or erotic images in the film industry but for them to be accepted they must be shown tastefully or educationally (the "Educational Books" label represents this) and informatively (the newspaper also represents this).