BBC4TV are repeating the documentary about the shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960). Hitchcock was a genius and I consider him to be one of the most important film directors of the 20C. The film Psycho includes the notorious shower scene…and this documentary deconstructs its making and meanings.

Well worth watching.

BBC4TV are showing an interesting French police drama. It’s a period drama, set in 1900. That’s a moment rich in various themes. The drama explores the various inequalities within the system of justice…especially in relation to racism and to gender.

The beginning of the 20C was also the moment when police detection became more scientific. In Paris, Bertillon pioneered the use of photography for recording the scene-of-crime. It was terrific to see him as a character in the investigation, and to observe the development of this process.

This series works very well in relation the recent Vienna Blood (BBC4TV). As you might expect, this series explored the beginnings of psychological analysis in police work, especially of those techniques and themes deriving from Freud.

The British artist, Walter Sickert, explored a number of themes associated with a widespread interest in crime at the end of the 19C. This was encouraged by the sensationalism of the popular press. It was good to see some of these ideas integrated into the drama. There is a big exhibition of Sickert’s painting planned for 2022 at Tate Britain.

A few years ago, the Musée d’Orsay had a terrific exhibition around the themes of art, crime and social control; Crime et Chatiment (2010). The catalogue is very interesting and includes a section on Bertillon and the advent of modern policing.