Film: Peeping Tom

Mark Lewis is a withdrawn young man who works as a focus puller in a film studio, moonlighting as a “private” photographer of scantily-clad women while obsessively working on his own “documentary” using the world’s most lethal tripod. An uncharacteristic thriller/horror movie by the co-director of The Red Shoes (whose prima ballerina, Moira Shearer, is also featured), Peeping Tom was savagely attacked by contemporary critics, stalling Michael Powell’s career for years. In the ensuing decades, the film’s reputation has skyrocketed, and it’s now recognized as a provocative study of voyeurism, a portrait of self-destruction, and blackly playful variations on “seeing” and identity. [101 min; thriller, horror; English]