What I know before going in
This will be my third time
watching the film. It is one of my favorites.
Immediate Reaction
I think the most striking, and
horrifying, aspect of Psycho is the fact that no one in the film realizes they
are in a horror movie. The movie doesn’t even really reveal itself to be a
horror film until the infamous shower scene. Up until that point, the film
could easily pass as another entry in the crime or noir genre. Even after the
shower scene, the full madness of Norman Bates isn’t apparent until the very
end. The characters who become involved with Marion’s flight don’t know the
dark secret lurking within the Bates Motel. Arbogast assumes he is just dealing
with a standard robbery case. When Sam Loomis and Lila Crane head to the motel
after becoming suspicious of Arbogast’s absence, they assume that Bates simply
wanted the money Marion stole to open another motel somewhere else. Again, the
fact that all parties are wrong, and the reality is so much more disturbing, is
Psycho’s masterstroke.
I recently watched The Silence
of the Lambs, and a big theme of that movie is how even without the presence of
Hannibal the Cannibal and Buffalo Bill, the world is an awful place for women
and is primarily dominated by men. That theme is quickly established when
Clarice walks into the FBI headquarters and is immediately surrounded
completely by men who are a good foot taller than her. I think Psycho explores
a similar theme, just in subtler way. When Marion interacts with her client,
the camera is positioned in such a way to make him seem totally dominate over
Marion. A similar effect is employed when she is stopped by the Police Officer,
and later when she enters Norman’s parlor and is surrounded by dead birds. In
addition, there is a shot where standing imposingly above Lila’s heads, if you
squint your eyes, it would look like several falcons are attacking her. Norman
also uses a peep hole to look at her. He literally frames her when she is at
her must vulnerable (right after she has decided to return the money and is
undressing). I would like to think that this is a subtle critique of the way
women are objectified on film, further evidenced by the camera’s slow zoom in
and peak-through on Marion and Sam’s lunchtime tryst.
Like the best Noir films,
Psycho also makes excellent use of shadow. There is of course the shower scene,
where Marion’s appears almost totally in shadow, making him seem like some
otherworldly phantom. Also, during the scene where Arbogast leaves the motel
and when Sam Loomis goes there alone, Norman’s face is shadowed to make him
look most sinister. The ending seems almost playful in its use of light and
shadow. Lila hits a single lightbulb with her hand when she discover Norma’s
corpse, the swinging bulb makes Norman’s attack even more creepy.
Further Thoughts
When someone is asked “If you
had access to a time machine, what event would you go back and witness?” common
answers are the Kennedy assassination, the writing of the Declaration of
Independence, or some other important historical event. My answer would be “the
premiere of Psycho.” At this point, we are pretty much born into this world
knowing the twist of Psycho. I would give anything to go back and time and just
observe people freaking out while watching the film. Not only did Psycho break
all narrative conventions by killing Marion off halfway through the film, but
if flew in the face of existing taboos regarding sex and violence. I am
actually still a little shocked at the beginning of Psycho, due to its sexual
explicitness and my association of black and white with older films. Both the
leads are half-naked, and rolling around in a bed, so there is no way they
didn’t just finish having sex, and to further turn the screw on conservatives,
Hitchcock makes sure you know that not only are the pair not married, but Sam
is divorced.
Of course, I have to talk about
the shower sequence, but I’ll do my best to provide a new twist. If you really
analyze it the sequence, there really isn’t anything shocking about it. You
never actually see the knife enter Marion’s body. However, the shot is edited
in such a staccato, impressionistic way that your mind naturally fills in
whatever shots would be missing. It starts off by the killer pulling the
curtain back, Marion screaming, and then a close-up of her mouth. Next, the
sequence moves into the same basic repetition. We get a shot of the killer
pulling back the knife to strike Marion, and then shot of her reaction to each
stab. The camera basically goes from the knife to Marion’s body, which seems
like a pretty logical way to shoot such a scene. However, few films seem to go
for that effect. The only recent film I can think is The Grandmaster, which
uses a similar technique to follow body parts as they rear back and then hit
other people or objects. The key to the shower scene is its rapid nature and
Bernard Hermann’s score. Both combine to create a disorienting effect,
mirroring the death throes that Marion is going through.
Of course, the stabbing is
followed by one of the greatest edits in film history, from the slow pan-in of
Marion’s blood going down the bathtub drain to the swirling pan-out of her
pupil as her life leaves her body.
I’ll just briefly copy a quote
from Roger Ebert’s review, which I think better gets at what I was describing
about no one the film knowing what is going on.
The
death of the heroine is followed by Norman's meticulous mopping-up of the death
scene. Hitchcock is insidiously substituting protagonists. Marion is dead, but
now (not consciously but in a deeper place) we identify with Norman--not
because we could stab someone, but because, if we did, we would be consumed by
fear and guilt, as he is. The sequence ends with the masterful shot of Bates
pushing Marion's car (containing her body and the cash) into a swamp. The car
sinks, then pauses. Norman watches intently. The car finally disappears under
the surface.
Analyzing
our feelings, we realize we wanted that
car to sink, as much as Norman did. Before Sam Loomis reappears, teamed up with
Marion's sister Lila (Vera Miles) to search for her,
"Psycho" already has a new protagonist: Norman Bates. This is one of
the most audacious substitutions in Hitchcock's long practice of leading and
manipulating us.
For a few brief moments,
Hitchcock forces us to not only become complicit in a killer’s murderous spree,
but worry about him being caught as well.
Why is the film on the list?
Psycho managed to break
narrative and societal taboos will delivering some of the most purely
enthralling sequences in cinema history.
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