The Film Psycho - Movie Review Example

Psycho Casebook Enter and Roll Number or College April 28 Introduction 1: Overview Psycho has seen a lot of appreciation by both the audience and filmmakers. It is said to break the conventional rules of film making. This movie does not let the audience leave it in the middle. If the viewer has started watching the movie from the middle then he cannot get grasp of the movie. The viewer has to watch the movie from the very beginning in order to understand its importance both in filmmaking and for the art of plot writing. I chose this movie for research because of its versatility and link to the real murder story. It fascinates me because of the detailing in each scene. Even the long pauses and silence of the movie attracts me and makes me think over the underlying meaning. Marion is the main character of the film. This beautiful actress works for Phoenix. She is upset from the difficulties of life. Marion cannot marry Sam, the love of her life merely because of monetary issues. Sam had to give his money for “alimony” (Psycho. 2012). One day, her employer gives her 40,000 USD to deposit in the bank. Marion is shown desperate for the money because it is the only way to overcome her financial issues and start a new life with Sam. They were tired of meeting at lunch breaks. So she decides to run away with the money. She was heading towards California when a storm rages and she has to make a turn towards unknown destination. After one whole day of driving she decides to stay at Bates Motel managed by Norman who is a young man. Norman is influenced by his mother. She had a chat with Norman which made her change her mind and return the money to her boss. She decides to head back to the town and return the money. While she is calculating that how she can pay back the 700 USD, she spent from the 400,000 USD in exchange of a car (Psycho. 2012). The most famous shower scene grasps the attention of the audience. Marion keeps on screaming but no one comes for help. The shadow of the black old woman keeps on brutally attacking her. At the end, Marion lay lifeless on the bath rub where the tap is still running and her blood flows away in the drain. Norman enters into the scene and tries to bring her mother to senses. He cleans up the blood. Terrified by the whole murder scene, he winds up all the belongings of Marion along with her dead body and dumps it in her car trunk. He takes the car to the swamp and pushes it in there. Marion’s dead body, money and car all sink in the swamp. Marion sister approaches Sam to ask her about where her sister is. Sam gets devastated by the disappearance of her lover and hires a detective with the help of Marion’s sister. Arbogast, the detective helps them in searching for the girl and comes across the Bates Motel. While their stay in the Motel, they try to investigate the murder of Marion or of any clue leading to her. However, Marion’s sister finds a cellar door at the bottom of staircase. She goes down there and finds an old woman sitting in the chair which is a corpse in reality. Frightened she screams and an old woman with knife appears there. The wig of the woman falls, revealing that it is Norman who has been dressed up as an old lady (Psycho. 2012). Norman was a psycho who tried to find solace with her mother after her father’s death. He wanted to have the full attention of her mother while she fell in love with someone else. He poisoned his mother along with her lover and preserved the body of her mother in the cellar. He created an illusion for himself and thought that his mother will never share him with another woman just like Norman could not share her with another man. The film then reveals the dual personality disorder Norman was facing. He thought that he is actually his mother when he killed someone and then just forget everything. The next day he is himself again and cleans up all the mess. To him this is close to reality but it is not the reality in itself. This is the reason which made me watch this movie and research over it. It has stunning detail, drama, trill and action. It is a true mysterious and thriller movie of 1960’s and even today. Hitchcock told Truffaut that the movie Psycho belongs to “Filmmakers” (Ebert, 1989). This film gained a lot of appreciation although it made with inexpensive equipment and crew. This movie was filmed in black and white color, with little dialogues and budget as low as 800,000 USD. Psycho received tremendous appreciation by its audience and fellow film makers. The essence of this film was in its plot and even in the promotion of the film. The promotional posters of this film had lines like “Do not reveal the surprises” (Ebert, 1989). The actress Janet Leigh who played the role of Marion in the film is not there in the entire movie. She is in the one third of the movie. 1.2 Research Statement: Psycho, based on true story using elements of horror and thrill made the human nature unwind its limits; which made it the most famous movie of all times. 2. “Construction” of the film, True Crime Story and Hitchcock films about murder The construction of the film and the divide of characters as two main characters, two cars, two crimes and two buildings make the audience compare and contrast and get more absorbed in the movie. Hitchcock’s novelty in film making of Psycho lies in the plot made for Marion and Norman. He makes the audience feel as if both of these characters were specially made for this movie. The theme used by Hitchcock involved an innocent person being trapped in a scandalous situation. This can be seen in Marion being trapped for overcoming her lover’s monetary issues. Similarly, if the character of Norman is taken into account in the light of his situation then he was a boy who wanted full attention of his mother, just to keep her there for himself forever, he committed a huge crime. He made a false situation for himself in which he thought that his mother cannot share him with any other woman just like he cannot share her. This made him live a false life. Two stair cases in the movie, two inside the motel and two outside are of great importance. They are a traditional representation in Hitchcock’s films and influenced by Lang (The Films of Alfred Hitchcock - by Michael E. Grost, n.d.). The mirror used at the reception and the ones in mother’s room are both inspired by Lang. The swirling light bulb, the black and white photography, the use of middle class life problems etc all have the elements inspired by the film Noir. Two parts, two “main” characters, two cars, two crimes, two buildings, etc are of utmost importance in the movie because it makes the audience compare and contrast both the things and subconsciously get more and more involved with the movie, screenplay and themes. True crime story of Ed Gein and its connection to the film Bell and Bardsley (n.d) state that on November 17, 1957 the police in Plainfield, Wisconsin reached the farmhouse of Ed Gein. He was a suspect in robbery at a hardware shop. There was garbage and dust in his farmhouse and a very strong smell of decomposition. Schley was inspecting the farmhouse when something brushed against him. To his surprise, it was the carcass of a dead body of a headless woman. When the farmhouse was inspected in detail an armchair made up of human skin, a belt made up of organs like nipples, head, nose and heart and preserved female genitals in shoe boxes were found. The more investigation they did, the more inhuman things they found. All the brutal pieces of handicrafts inspired Robert Bloch to write story about Norman Bates, based on the character of Eddie Gein. How does the film relate to other Hitchcock films about murder? Hitchcock was a drama and film maker. He got famous because of his artistry in visual film making. His long running TV serial from 1955 – 1966 made him famous throughout America. Hitchcock made a number of movies from The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) up to Notorious (1946). He was famous for his crime stories, spy involvement and murder scenes. He was the one who made pure crime thrillers. Rebecca (1940) is another example in the mastery of film making which involved murder from a lover. If anyone from today’s world watches this movie even then the Hitchcock movie grasps the attention of his audience. The scenes and dialogues of Rebecca still live in the hearts and mind of its viewers. “Psycho” 1960 however took the filmmaking of Hitchcock to another level. This involved thrill, suspicion, murder and horror. His films about murder followed distinct themes like Opening from a courtroom Inclusion of a detective An innocent and young person being trapped Psycho is more that the quick movies he filmed like Detour. It had no expensive material, crew or technology used. Psycho is another extreme of filmmaking by Hitchcock compared to Rear Window and Vertigo which were high budget movies (Ebert, 1989). Psycho (1960) relates to other films of Hitchcock by the plot, setting of scenes, inclusion of spy. However, it had an element of horror which makes it different from other movies of his. Bird imagery is also a common thing between Psycho and other Hitchcock films like Spellbound and The Birds (The Films of Alfred Hitchcock - by Michael E. Grost, n.d.). A common reason of bird imagery in his films is The Hawkman’s Comic Of1940’s which had a man who could fly. The opening scenes of films by Hitchcock are experimental in nature. The inclusion of “Freeze Frames” was used by the film maker in order to grasp the attention of the audience (The Films of Alfred Hitchcock - by Michael E. Grost, n.d.). The opening scene of Psycho and Breakdown are experimental and use freeze frames. The camera movement in Psycho (1960) is remarkable. The opening scene of the movie makes the camera move towards the office building of Marion through air and passes through window in a room where the film starts to develop. 3. Conclusion Psycho (1960) is based on true story. It uses elements of horror and thrill. Hitchcock made this movie in a low budget but still it makes the audience stick to it till the end. This is because of the sequence of scenes and the inclusion of little details like the bulb swinging, the curtain pulled off by the rod and the water tipping over the head of the dead woman. Hitchcock not only made this film for the sake of film making but used visual artistry in order to make it more attractive. The human nature is explored in this movie. Norman and Marion are two young people who have their own mindsets. They are not born criminals but they try to save themselves by the unkind events. In Marion’s case, it is “money” which is keeping her from getting united with her lover whereas in Norman’s case it is the “love” her mother had for another man which he could not bear. Both of these people try to save what they think is important for themselves but actually they are getting evil in doing so. Human beings are the creation of God which is sympathetic and compassionate in nature. But when it comes to extremism, history tells that humans can love to extremes and hate beyond limits. Marion stole money which she would have never done but she did so just to make a life with her lover. Norman could never kill his mother but his jealousy made him kill his mother which is a very shocking event in the film. Similarly, Norman lives a false life of dual personality. This film is my favorite in terms of storytelling and visual scenery. It utilizes “suspense” even by the director buying all the copies of the novel and by the promotional campaign which clutched the attention of the audience. 4. References Bell, R., and Bardsley, M. (n.d.). Buffalo Bill and Psycho. Eddie Gein — — Crime Library. Retrieved April 27, 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/notorious/gein/bill_1.html Ebert, R. (1989). Psycho Movie Review & Film Summary (1960) | Roger Ebert. All Content. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-psycho-1960 Psycho . (2012). IMDb. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/synopsis?ref_=ttpl_pl_syn The Films of Alfred Hitchcock - by Michael E. Grost. (n.d.). The Films of Alfred Hitchcock - by Michael E. Grost. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from http://mikegrost.com/hitch.htm Read More