Art of Cinema: Psycho - Essay Example

Art of Cinema “Psycho” Why do people like to watch horror movies? Isn’t it better to watch movies that bring smiles and a wish to daydream about love and other relaxing things, to identify with the characters and maybe even try to imitate them the following day, etc? Why do directors and producers make horror movies? Is it because of the enormous amounts of money such movies will bring them? What’s so weird about the human mind that makes both the movie makers and the audience enjoy such movies? I have been asking myself these questions so many times before and frankly, still haven’t found the right answer. Anyhow, speaking and theorizing about such a movie after having it seen might be of great help. The offer is certainly very big, and I’ve had a bit of a hard time to make my choice. Finally, I’ve decided: it should be Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” (1960). If asked why such an old movie, which is by the way a black-and-white production when there are a lot of modern horror movies that add to the final effect with all that blood red color, I would certainly answer: because of the actors chosen for the leading roles and the mystic elements in the black-and-white Paramount production. Janet Leigh as Marion Crane, John Gavin as Sam Loomis, Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, Vera Miles as Lila Crane, and many others perfectly fit into Hitchcock’s and Joseph Stefano’s (the screenplay writer) idea about the characters described in Robert Bloch’s novel. All movies carry some message(s), and most of the time all movies especially horror movies deal with the everlasting theme of the good versus evil battle. Can we say the same about “Psycho”? Maybe… But the main themes here are certainly the theme of a woman in jeopardy, and of course the theme of mothers and sons, which certainly has a lot to do with Freudian psychology. The opening scene of the movie where we see Marion (a secretary in her thirties) in just her underwear having a lunch-time affair with her lover Sam on Friday, December 11th, 02:43 P.M. is very hard to imagine in a movie that dates back in 1960. It is nothing unusual these days, but then, it has probably shocked at least the older generation, and the overtly religious people. Anyway, as Marion goes to her office nervous about her “disrespectful” relationship with Sam, a remark made by a client who leaves $40000 cash on her desk that unhappiness can be “bought-off”, Marion starts thinking of stealing the money. She has been advised to take the money to the bank by her boss, of course, but instead, she takes the money home with her. Here we can watch a very convincing scene of Marion’s inner struggle whether to do something she knows is bad and wrong (take the money for herself). She starts for Fairvale to find Sam and surprise him with the money, solve his money problems at last and maybe even get married to him. While driving from Phoenix to Fairvale, she still has hard time by her inner thoughts which Hitchcock presents through her constant looking back in her rear-view mirror. Her conscience is at work which also points out the fact that whether we like it or not, conscience is at home within our brain, we can’t control it, and it works independently of our will. The following day, after being awaken by a patrol officer on the side of the highway, Marion gives out all recognizable signs of nervousness, but plans everything well, as all criminals do. She exchanges her car for another and continues her way. In the meantime, while driving, Marion imagines the situation when the stealing of the money will be discovered. A heavy rain starts and she decides to spend the night in the “Bates Motel”. Here in an extraordinary way, Hitchcock, the master of suspense, skillfully uses his techniques to introduce dark and evil forces and secrets moving the camera’s objective toward an old Victorian type house that looks like a skull in the dark with the lit windows like eye-holes in the skull. Marion checks in. Then, the first mother-son quarrel follows in between the caretaker Norman Bates and his mother for offering Marion dinner. The theme mothers and sons, has been touched here. The conversation that follows between Marion and Norman, points to Hitchcock’s suggestion of incest when Norman tells about his step-father’s death and says that “a son is a poor substitute for a lover”. This speaks also of his sexual oppression, his unhealthy devotion and care for his mother. Marion is presented here as a compassionate, good-hearted woman, who becomes aware of other people’s hardships and traps they are caught into, and of the trap she has placed herself into by stealing the money, she decides to correct what she has done, repent, and go back to Phoenix to give the stolen money back before it is too late for her. Too late for what, for turning into one of Lucifer’s followers maybe?! In the next scene, probably the best of all, Marion is slashed to death, the knife striking at her naked body in the shower, her blood running down the drain, the music, i.e. the tones accompanying the bloody scene are so creepy and chilly and tense that whoever watches this movie must put his/her hands over the mouth to avoid any screaming. Another creepy scene like this is the scene when Arbogast, the detective investigating the “stolen money” matter and Marion’s disappearance, is also stabbed to death, attacked all at once in the Bates’ place, when trying to find out more about Marion. After other policemen and the sheriff get involved in the investigation, another mystery comes out to the surface, that is, Norman’s mother being dead and buried for more than ten years. Who is the woman then in the house bedroom upstairs? Another mystery, another dark secret… When Lila, Marion’s sister searches the house, that is, the bedroom, the attic, and the cellar, which symbolize Norman’s segmented personality, all parts of his segmented personality, she finds the corpse (stuffed) of Mrs. Bates. Norman tries to kill Lila, too, disguised into an old woman that should supposedly be his mother, but is prevented and defeated by Sam. The last scenes of the film are not as good as the rest of it in my opinion, but I am not a director, of course. Now, having analyzed some of the main characters in short, let me turn to another important thing about the movie, and that is the setting with the objects that bare some meaning. For example, why does Hitchcock use so many mirrors in his film? Because, mirrors mean reflections. What do mirrors mean to people, especially women? Mirrors have the magical power of telling us who we really are. One can not see into his / her own eyes if one does not use a mirror. What one sees in the reflection is one’s true self. Maybe Hitchcock uses so many mirrors to point to Marion’s personality and her wish to find who she really is. Evil reflects in the mirror, too. I have already spoken about the symbolism of the old skull-like house above. What should be said about the rooms of the house is that in each of the rooms explored by Lila there is something that points to divided personalities and not only with Bates. Many people suffer from this psychological “illness”. In the room on the top floor, i.e. Norman’s room, there are objects that point to his childhood memories as well as his period of growing up, and the period of his adult life. Don’t we all keep dolls, cars, teddy bears so dear to us in some corner of our bedrooms because they remind us of the period when we have been careless children only and they bring only pleasant memories? Does that make anybody a divided personality? I don’t think so. The shiny knife striking and stabbing Marion’s body is a totally different thing. It might have some phallic symbolism, as Norman probably imagines rape and revenge towards his mother when he kills Marion after peering for very long through the peeping hole on the wall while she’s having her shower. That certainly points to some illness in Norman, and his Oedipus complex. The draining of Marion’s blood and its sinking down the drain may signify two important but contradictory facts. First it symbolizes human soul (spirit) leaving the dead body, and secondly, along with the mere act of stabbing it symbolizes punishment for Marion’s crime. Alfred Hitchcock manages to keep our attention all the time. Although sometimes we get urged to cover our eyes expecting some horror scene, still we watch very alert because there is something that makes us see the movie to the very end. Having also watched other horror movies directed by other directors (not having intention to criticize or diminish their work) I would say that, maybe just because the modern horror movies employ too many special effects, too much blood, and the plot is shallow (does not deal with real life), Hitchcock is the master of horror movies. Hereby, we have to say he is a very good selector of good stories to make his films according to them. For example, the story of somebody’s temptation to steal money is realistic. It could happen to everybody. Actually, things like that happen all the time. More important here is his try (a successful one) to make the audience realize his message, and make the difference between good and evil. To quote Bruce F. Kawin, “ … this is only one aspect of one horror formula… it makes the basic point: good horror films try to be good hosts, and lead us through a structure that shows us something useful or worth understanding…” My personal reaction to the movie goes in several directions. I feel saddened by the victims’ deaths. Arbogast is one of the “good guys” and he is not guilty of anything, yet he’s been killed by Norman. Still, do we know for sure whether he hasn’t done something wrong in his past and his killing is also a kind of punishment by God, as it is in Marion’s case? However, Marion does repent and wants to make things right, before getting killed. Why does God punish her then? In a way, I feel sorry and angry in the case of Norman, because his mental “illness” is only a “reflection” that comes out from the “mirror of society”. People like Norman should be taken care better. They should be institutionalized and medically treated. Here Hitchcock criticizes society and its institutions. Also, the opening of the movie, Sam’s money problems, his unresolved problems about housing on one side, and the cowboy’s $40000 cash for his daughter’s dowry (his daughter is only 18 months old, by the way) on the other, is also a strong criticizing of American society and the social differences in status and welfare among the American citizens. It is another difference between “Psycho” and other horror movies. Hitchcock also tries to liberate the filmmaking and society in general from various taboos in those days, such as sex outside marriage, nudity on the screen, excessive violence that ends up with killings of the main characters in the movies during the nineteen sixties. Although it is obvious that the movie falls into the groups of those with a very low budget, even so many years later Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho” has not lost anything of its importance, frightening and exciting effects on the audience, etc., and is equally interesting for both the elders and the younger generation. All in all, “Psycho” is everything a horror movie should be, if horror movies should be made at all. Personally, if horror movies were made the same way “Psycho” had been, I would watch horrors eagerly. However, if they are shallow in contents, with too many artificial special effects, music that is not suitable, and if the directors can not put me in the position of a voyeur and can not fulfill my expectations as audience, I will stick to drama, thrillers, comedies, whatever, as long as they are not the kind of the “soap operas” or “TV novellas”. MLA formatted: The Purdue OWL. 26 Aug. 2008. The Writing Lab and OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. 23 April 2008 . Sources: 1. Kawin, F. Bruce, “Children of the Light” p.329 Read More