18. Psycho 1960
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/
PSYCHO: A Title with Two Meanings
Upon first review of Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho, the audience draws the conclusion that the name of the movie refers to Norman Bates psychosis. The beauty of the film, however, lies not simply with Norman’s mental state, but within the duality of the meaning of the title. Not only is Norman Bates psychotic, but Hitchcock has made Psycho the benchmark by which all psychological thrillers would be judged in the future. He does this by both utilizing the audible conscience of two of the main characters and by using a combination of camera angles, cuts, and sound effects, which trick the viewer into believing that there is truly a horror contained within the story.
The audible conscience is used with two characters in this film. The first, of course, is Norman Bates. At first we hear the audible conscience (“Mother”) aloud because Norman is actually speaking in her voice. He speaks in her voice loudly enough for Marion to hear it all the way down to the cabin. In retrospect, this is the only time for certain that the audience hears “Mother” out loud, because there is a third person (Marion) who hears it as well. The other times when Norman speaks in Mother’s voice, he is alone. Therefore, it is unclear as to whether he speaks out loud or if it is just in his head, as it is at the end of the film, when the viewer hears Norman’s conscience (mother’s voice), but his lips do not move. What she says to Norman at the end of the film, however, is arguably more important than the fact that her voice is in his head. She chastises him for thinking he could “get away” with murder by blaming her, thereby magnifying his psychosis in the mind of the viewer; ironically, only the mother part of Norman’s brain is sane enough to know that Norman, himself, is insane.
The second audible conscience is arguably the most brilliant piece of writing in film today. Marion’s audible conscience not only allows the viewer to understand what Marion is thinking and feeling, but makes the viewer a part of the story. When she imagines Mr. Lowry speaking to Caroline, he says, “Call me as soon as she gets in,” leading the audience to believe that he already remembers that he saw her heading out of town. It is not until one hears him speaking to Lila (in Marion’s imagination) that one realizes that he did not remember, or that maybe he did and then forgot again. The fact that her thinking is scattered not only helps to build the suspense, but makes it easier in which to relate. After all, when one is guilty, it is almost impossible to think straight. The fact that the audience can hear the voice in Marion’s head projects her guilt onto them. The viewer actually begins to feel nervous for Marion; as if to say that they were aiding and abetting the theft by not doing something to stop her. (Obviously, the audience could do no more to stop Marion than “Mother” could do to stop Norman, but that does not stop the permeating feeling of guilt.) Hitchcock takes Marion’s guilt, dumps it in the viewer’s lap, and tells them to decide for themselves what to do with it. It is sheer brilliance how he makes Marion’s audible conscience sound as if it were coming from inside the viewer’s head.
The jump cuts, camera angles, and sound effects are juxtaposed in this film to create a feeling of horror which is unparalleled. In the infamous shower scene, the viewer believes that they are seeing Marion being murdered; however, the knife never hits her skin. The logical connection is made because the sound of the cutting is in perfect sync with the knife going in a downward motion toward Marion. When Arbogast falls down the stairs and onto his back, a shrouded Norman crouches over him and the film is stopped while the knife is poised in mid-air. By doing this, Hitchcock is almost forcing the audience to draw their own conclusion. Finally, in a genius move by Hitchcock, the audience believes that Mrs. Bates is kicking and screaming when Norman takes her to the fruit cellar. Upon closer examination, we see that she is not kicking at all. We do, however see her foot hit the banister, posing the following question: Did Hitchcock do that on purpose to make her look like was struggling, or was an overlooked editing mistake that just happened to work well?
Regardless, both the effects and the audible conscience work with the viewer’s imagination to produce horror in its purest form. They construct a devilish plot which produces cinematic magic and, in every sense of the word, a masterpiece.
PSYCHO: A Title with Two Meanings
Upon first review of Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho, the audience draws the conclusion that the name of the movie refers to Norman Bates psychosis. The beauty of the film, however, lies not simply with Norman’s mental state, but within the duality of the meaning of the title. Not only is Norman Bates psychotic, but Hitchcock has made Psycho the benchmark by which all psychological thrillers would be judged in the future. He does this by both utilizing the audible conscience of two of the main characters and by using a combination of camera angles, cuts, and sound effects, which trick the viewer into believing that there is truly a horror contained within the story.
The audible conscience is used with two characters in this film. The first, of course, is Norman Bates. At first we hear the audible conscience (“Mother”) aloud because Norman is actually speaking in her voice. He speaks in her voice loudly enough for Marion to hear it all the way down to the cabin. In retrospect, this is the only time for certain that the audience hears “Mother” out loud, because there is a third person (Marion) who hears it as well. The other times when Norman speaks in Mother’s voice, he is alone. Therefore, it is unclear as to whether he speaks out loud or if it is just in his head, as it is at the end of the film, when the viewer hears Norman’s conscience (mother’s voice), but his lips do not move. What she says to Norman at the end of the film, however, is arguably more important than the fact that her voice is in his head. She chastises him for thinking he could “get away” with murder by blaming her, thereby magnifying his psychosis in the mind of the viewer; ironically, only the mother part of Norman’s brain is sane enough to know that Norman, himself, is insane.
The second audible conscience is arguably the most brilliant piece of writing in film today. Marion’s audible conscience not only allows the viewer to understand what Marion is thinking and feeling, but makes the viewer a part of the story. When she imagines Mr. Lowry speaking to Caroline, he says, “Call me as soon as she gets in,” leading the audience to believe that he already remembers that he saw her heading out of town. It is not until one hears him speaking to Lila (in Marion’s imagination) that one realizes that he did not remember, or that maybe he did and then forgot again. The fact that her thinking is scattered not only helps to build the suspense, but makes it easier in which to relate. After all, when one is guilty, it is almost impossible to think straight. The fact that the audience can hear the voice in Marion’s head projects her guilt onto them. The viewer actually begins to feel nervous for Marion; as if to say that they were aiding and abetting the theft by not doing something to stop her. (Obviously, the audience could do no more to stop Marion than “Mother” could do to stop Norman, but that does not stop the permeating feeling of guilt.) Hitchcock takes Marion’s guilt, dumps it in the viewer’s lap, and tells them to decide for themselves what to do with it. It is sheer brilliance how he makes Marion’s audible conscience sound as if it were coming from inside the viewer’s head.
The jump cuts, camera angles, and sound effects are juxtaposed in this film to create a feeling of horror which is unparalleled. In the infamous shower scene, the viewer believes that they are seeing Marion being murdered; however, the knife never hits her skin. The logical connection is made because the sound of the cutting is in perfect sync with the knife going in a downward motion toward Marion. When Arbogast falls down the stairs and onto his back, a shrouded Norman crouches over him and the film is stopped while the knife is poised in mid-air. By doing this, Hitchcock is almost forcing the audience to draw their own conclusion. Finally, in a genius move by Hitchcock, the audience believes that Mrs. Bates is kicking and screaming when Norman takes her to the fruit cellar. Upon closer examination, we see that she is not kicking at all. We do, however see her foot hit the banister, posing the following question: Did Hitchcock do that on purpose to make her look like was struggling, or was an overlooked editing mistake that just happened to work well?
Regardless, both the effects and the audible conscience work with the viewer’s imagination to produce horror in its purest form. They construct a devilish plot which produces cinematic magic and, in every sense of the word, a masterpiece.
posted by Susan @ 10:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home