Visual Arts - Peeping Tom - Essay Example

?Visual Arts and Film Studies In this paper, we will answer some questions related to two of the most debated films of their times, which include Peeping Tom and Psycho. The films provided something new to the audience and were able enough to change the course of the entire film industry. Peeping Tom (1960) Peeping Tom was released in 1960. The director of the film, Michael Powell, integrated the elements of violence and voyeurism in the film. Peeping Tom faced huge criticism at the time of its release in the English cinema. “The critics rose up like a bunch of furious Reverend Davidsons to condemn it on moral grounds” (Canby, 1979). The reason behind such a huge criticism was the extreme of voyeurism related to private moments of people. The film included pictorial records of women, which were recorded right at the time of their deaths. The main character of the film, Mark, who was shown as a killer in the film used to capture the moments of fear while murdering young women. This was one of the main factors, which gave rise to such a huge level of criticism against the film, which eventually ended Powell’s career as a director. The critics used to give disgraceful comments about the film because of its absurd nature. Some critics even said that the whole film should be flushed down the sewer. The theme of the film revealed the psychological behaviors of different people involved in the people. The film also revealed that the nature of a person becomes stronger by time and what a person observes in the childhood never gets out of his/her mind. The film involves the audience in the shameful act of stalking and murdering young women, which was also one of the major reasons behind criticism about the film. The critics also believed that the film was a show of frustration and violence instead of a pure entertainment. The film did not give any sort of lesson to the audience rather it just made them feel involved in the shameful act of stalking women and murdering them. This aspect of the film was the most disastrous one because it tried to break the unspoken rules of the English cinema. Some critics believed that the film was portraying the elements of violence, aggression, and voyeurism by involving the audience into the acts of the killer. This was not acceptable for the critics as it was totally against the social and moral ethics. Critics believed that the role of cinema was to make people aware of social and moral ethics of the society instead of involving them into voyeur acts. The director of the film, Powell, broke the rules of the cinema by making such film but he never thought of consequences of doing such act. “With this film, he succeeded in breaking through all boundaries and disregarding all unspoken rules of cinema” (Jacobson, n.d.). The consequences of making such a movie were very bad for the director of the movie. The director not only faced heavy loss due to failure of the film but also his career as a director ended. “It’s fifty years since Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom was released to notorious critical umbrage, a Caesar-like mass stabbing which essentially killed his career” (Robey, 2010). Today, some people consider this movie as the first modern horror movie of the century, which included the elements of sex and horror. Although the lightening and genre of the film was very outstanding, yet the story and style of the film did not come up to the expectations of the audience and the critics. The film was very unsettling in nature as the director portrayed the main role of the film as a mentally ill person. The murdered used to trap the girls and murder them in order to fulfill his psychological frustration. The way the film was made and the way it showed the actions of Mark, who was the hero of the film, was not expected by the audience, which gave rise to such a great criticism against the film. Powell, the director of the film, was very much aware of the dark aspects of the film but even then, he went on to make this film. The film just remained in the cinemas for one week and after huge criticism, all cinemas refused to play the film for the audience. The critics argued and said that no one has the right to watch private moments of anyone’s life and the film was showing exactly that. The director of the film showed the scenes in such a way that the audience also felt involved in the acts while watching the film. The critics believed that the involvement of audience was totally against the ethics of the English cinema. The critics also claimed that the film flaunted shilling-shocker sleaziness in an intentional way. Therefore, these were the reasons why the film became a total failure and the director of the film faced such a huge criticism against the film. Psycho (1960) Psycho (1960) is Hitchcock’s one of the greatest film, which changed the course of film history. The film was released in 1960 and unlike the above-discussed film, Peeping Tom; this movie was one of the greatest hits of its time. The film was extraordinary and groundbreaking, which made a large number of people come to the cinemas to watch the movie. “With an unpredictable plot, unconventional cinematography, a score that enhances and not interrupts, this just might be the best movie of the year” (Lien, 1999). One cannot say that success of the movie lied in its story; rather it was the construction of the story and the film, which made it a box office hit. “Story-wise, Psycho is not extraordinary; its true ingeniousness lies in its construction” (Berardinelli, 1998). The structure of the film was more than great and it set the standards for upcoming horror movies. The movie was a great mix of psychology and violence, which was one of the reasons behind its success in the cinemas. Apart from the elements of violence and horror, the director also made use of sexual display on more than one occasion, which kept the beauty of the film alive. For example, showing a woman taking shower with some hints of flesh and showing her in underwear are some of those shots which although cannot be called sex scenes but were good enough to keep the balance between sex, violence, and horror in the film. The most famous scene of the movie in which the actress, Janet Leigh, is hacked to death while she was taking shower is one of the main reasons behind the success of the movie. The addition of the background music in the scene really adds to the quality and overall construction of the scene. Many people say that the roots of the concept of locking the door while taking bath or shower go back to the scene shown in Psycho. The killing of the leading woman in the film in the very early stages was one of the most groundbreaking aspects of the film. The director filmed the scene with extreme level of expertise and command. Even if we see the movie today, we will definitely like the shower scene. The most incredible thing in that scene is that the director has not shown everything clearly; rather he has left some spaces to be filled by the imagination of the audience. “The full horror of the murder is only hinted at on-screen” (Berardinelli, 1998). The black and white mode of the movie also adds to its beauty and style. Some analysts say that the addition of color would not have been good for the movie. “The cinematography, which was nominated for an Oscar, consists of some of the most stylish black-and-white photograph” (Putman, 1998). Hitchcock composed every scene with painstaking care and expertise, which is the evidence of quality of the film. The director of the film excellently showed how fear and paranoia influence the actions of a person. The depiction of the relationship between Norman, who was the owner of the motel, and his mother also adds to the attraction of the movie. The iconic scene in which Leigh was murdered at the Bates Motel while taking shower was the main attraction of the film. The final revelation about Norman’s mother and the shower scene are two of the most incredible scenes of the movie. These scenes, along with the outstanding audio and video quality made this movie one of the greatest hits of all times. The director made incredible use of all available technology and did not make the audience feel any sort of lapse in the proper use of technology. The quality of the scenes, lightening, and sound effects were so powerful that the film was nominated four times for the Oscar award. It was the quality, excellence, and success of Hitchcock’s film that today many filmmakers think to remake the movie and earn good profits. However, none of them except Gus Van Sant has tried it yet because of the fact that successful remake of a classic movie is a very difficult task. Gus Van Sant made the remake of Psycho in 1998 but his film fell short of his expectations at the box office. The remake did not match the charisma, appeal, and fascination of the original movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. “On the whole, the remake is just about, but not quite as good as the original Psycho” (Williams, 1998). Therefore, we can say that scenes, lightening, and overall construction of the original film Psycho were the most attractive and groundbreaking features of the film. References Berardinelli, J. (1998). Psycho (1960). Reelviews.net. Retrieved from http://www.reelviews.net/movies/p/psycho.html Canby, V. (1979). Peeping Tom (1960) October 14, 1979 Film: Michael Powell's 'Peeping Tom': The Cast. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C00E4D7153EE732A25757C1A9669D946890D6CF Jacobson, M. (n.d.). PEEPING TOM. Dvdmoviecentral.com. Retrieved from http://www.dvdmoviecentral.com/ReviewsText/peeping_tom.htm Lien, F. (1999). Psycho Review. Killermovies.com. Retrieved from http://www.killermovies.com/p/psycho/reviews/alu.html Putman, D. (1998). Dustin’s Review Psycho (1960). Themovieboy.com. Retrieved from http://www.themovieboy.com/reviews/p/60_psycho.htm Robey, T. (2010). Peeping Tom, review. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/8144005/Peeping-Tom-review.html Williams, M. (1998). Psycho Review. Killermovies.com. Retrieved from http://www.killermovies.com/p/psycho/reviews/8pw.html Read More