Alfred Hitchcock's Contribution To Cinema - Essay Example

Alfred Hitchcock's Contribution To Cinema The cinematic techniques adopted by Alfred J. Hitchcock, one of the greatest commercial filmmakers, are considered to have revolutionized the art of modern filmmaking. One of the basic aspects of modern filmmaking with an aim to gain commercial success and also elevating the aesthetics of artistry is to understand the mind of audience and provide them with the required emotional materials so that they receive a fused sensibility of emotional fertility and surprise. Alfred J. Hitchcock revolutionized this technique and consequently provided the Hollywood tradition of commercial filmmaking with a new dimension. Aristotle, in the Poetics, while attempted to provide definition of tragedy, provided a great deal of emphasis over purgation of “pity” and “fear” and as a tragedy effectively provides an emotional outlet to such human sensibilities, is also capable of attaining appreciation of the audience: “Tragedy, then, is an imitation of an action that is serious and complete, and which has some greatness about it. It imitates in words with pleasant accompaniments, each type belonging separately to the different parts of the work. It imitates people performing actions and does not reply on narration. It achieves, through pity and fear, the catharsis of these sorts of feelings” (Aristotle; Cited in Shields 385). Despite the fact that context of the topic of discussion does not really provide sufficient scope to evaluate that how successful the movie Psycho (1960) is as a tragedy, however, relevance of this definition seems quite evident as explicit evidences can be cited, indicating the fact that behind development of a successful commercial film, Hitchcock has relied considerably on the features of purgation as well as providing attention over psychological state of the audience, as pointed out in the classical definition itself. It would be wrong if success of the Psycho is evaluated entirely from commercial perspective. The director, in an interview though has admitted that the film was made on a budget of “eight hundred thousand dollars” and till the date of interview “it has grossed some fifteen million dollars” (Hitchcock; Kolker 21), however, it cannot be denied that in order to attain such a great success from artistic, aesthetic and commercial perspective the directorial ingeniousness regarding the art of filmmaking and perceiving audience’s psychology played a very vital part. Success of the Psycho, has been identified by film critics as Hitchcock’s effort to create “a new perception of film” as such films were capable of drawing viewers toward it and due to orientation of these films “toward a new generation of filmgoers”, was also identified commence of a new era in the history of world cinema (Monaco 189). Characterization, in this context played an important part in order to produce the desired effect. Hitchcock intended not to overcrowd the film with excess of characters; rather he chose a specific set of characters and also focused over choice of location with the purpose of keeping the audience focused to main theme of the film as well as course of actions as depicted within its scope. Action of the film revolves around mainly five characters, the protagonist Norman Bates (played by Anthony Perkins), Marion Crane (played by Janet Leigh), Sam Loomis (played by John Gavin), Marion’s sister Lila (played by Vera Miles) and the private detective Milton Arbogast (played by Martin Balsam). Apart from these five characters, unseen, mysterious presence of Mrs. Bates, Norman’s mother helps in evoking audience’s curiosity regarding actual identity of the character and director, uses this scope to horrify the audience by exercising over their emotional faculties (pity and fear), finally revealing the source of mystery and horror. Incidents of the film occur on the backdrop of Phoenix, Arizona and the peaceful lifestyle of the location clearly acts as a sharp contrast to the kind of horror and violence that the audience has yet to explore (Psycho 1960). Norman Bates, represents the human manifestation of the evils that society create and when such evil conflict with humane approaches, for the sake of survival in the civilized society, the evil self is suppressed and humane side is illuminated. End of the Psycho reveals that Mrs. Bates, the suspected and psychotic assassin of both Marion and the private detective was dead for last ten years. Her son Norman could not endure his mother’s secret love affair as he identified her emotional involvement with her boyfriend is the main reason behind devastation of his peaceful life. Thus, he poisoned both of them and in the quest of suppressing the guilt consciousness Norman kept his mother alive in his psychology, resulting himself being a patient of alternate personality problem. During the times of his heinous deeds he actually lives as his mother and while living the normal course of life, he is just another American youth, trapped in his own existential dilemma, looking for all possible scopes to satisfy his erotic desires. Marion’s stealing of $ 40,000 in search of a better life (Psycho 1960), and her final resolution to return that money back, according to the contemporary socio-economic existence, can be viewed as an act of “greatness”, whereas the entire action of the film – the gruesome acts of murder, quest of the detective, Lila and Sam to solve the mystery of Marion’s disappearance can be regarded as actions that are “serious and complete”. Finally, the emotional purgation has been achieved by evoking a sense of immense fear and horror among audience. However, in the final scene, where Norman is confined within a cell mutters words in his mother’s voice, “It's sad when a mother has to speak the words that condemn her own son, but I couldn't allow them to believe that I would commit murder. They'll put him away now, as I should have years ago. He was always bad, and in the end, he intended to tell them I killed those girls and that man, as if I could do anything except just sit and stare, like one of his stuffed birds….” (Psycho 1960), the audience cannot help to pity with condition of the person, as it has been evident by the director that Norman is not solely responsible for his plight; rather his surrounding has been quite an extent responsible developing the grounds of malice and brutality, which has grown beyond the scope of controlling for being undiagnosed. Music and sound play equally important part to extend the feeling of horror among audience. The music of Bernard Herrmann provided Psycho with the most suitable fulfillment and such fusion can be viewed as final touch of an artist to an unfinished picture in order to make it more appealing. Compared to the earlier musicians in the Hollywood, Bernard Herrmann attempted to create his own musical style since 1940s and in this process he “moved away from a dependence on late romanticism, avoiding emotional underscoring and scoring films sparingly, often avoiding a direct correlation between music and screen action. He also composed very short and often unmelodic cues, some lasting only a few seconds and used smaller ensemble rather than the standard symphonic orchestra” (Reay 18). The Psycho is replete with such examples of musical application, especially during the moments of intense attention and suspense from the audience. Such unmelodic and short cues not only hold the audience in surprise but also intensified further the feeling of horror and fear. The black and white ambiance, depiction of graphic violence and creation of situation of suspense with unusual musical jarring surely provided audience with such a spectrum that they never witnessed or experienced before. Thus, while reflecting over his work in Psycho, Hitchcock clearly admits, “Psycho has a very interesting construction and that game with audience was fascinating. I was directing the views. You might say I was playing them, like an organ” (Hitchcock; Kolker 16), there is no scope to deny that he truly realized psychology of the audience in the best manner and accordingly came up with a film that would provide them with desired level of aesthetic satisfaction. Works Cited Kolker, Robert Phillip. Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho: a casebook. New York: Oxford University Press US. 2004. Monaco, Paul. The sixties, 1960-1969. California: University of California Press. 2003. Reay, Pauline. Music in film: soundtracks and synergy. London: Wallflower Press. 2004. Shields, Christopher John. Aristotle. London: Routledge. 2007. Psycho. Screenplay by. Joseph Stefano. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. California: Paramount Pictures. 1960. Read More