Pyscho essay

Psycho essay

 

Albert Hitchcock's psycho is a hard movie to sum up because of the unusual structure of the plot. Forty-seven minutes into the film our protagonist Marion crane is violently killed, throughout the film until this point she was used in every scene. The narration was restricted to Marion and therefore the audience were left seeking for a new narrator once she was killed, by the end of the film we had been taken through three other characters point of views including her disturbed killer Norman Bates, owner of the Bates motel.

 

The opening sequence of psycho was an establishing shot of a city, captions then appeared to show the precise date and time, the camera then seems to select a half open window of an apartment building before tracking towards it making the audience feel as if they are spying on somebody. This certain scene is very cleverly filmed because of the other enigma codes the audience can conclude from it. The date and time for example almost contradict the random selection of the camera when it chooses that certain window to track into making it no longer seem that the audience know exactly where they are or the time, the random selection signifying that this is any room, any apartment building any place and any time. This makes the audience feel uncomfortable, it could be them. The window is also half open and the room inside is hidden by darkness, the camera instead of panning inwards tracks forwards and downwards which is an interesting technique used, due to the narrative this technique has connotations that the director is taking the audience downwards into the darkness of themselves. The window acts as a symbol of our universal morality which Hitchcock questions throughout the film. The theme questions what is morally right.

Hitchcock filmed psycho in black and white which is unusual because the time the film was made was when colour movies were on the up. Hitchcock himself actually was making coloured movies alongside this movie; his choice was stylistic and was used to reflect the storyline. The lack of colour made the movie seem lifeless as well as lacking emotion the shadows are more profound which visually signifying the darkness of the film start to finish.

 

The director manipulates the audience with the camera forcing them to relate to Marion by using POVs to show her huge dark eyes, the wideness of her eyes connote innocence making her seem childlike which helps the audience sympathise towards her and the decision she has made, the audience almost supports her.  The opening scene acts as an explanation for why Marion decides to steal the $40,000. Marion's lover Sam is in debt leaving the couple unable to marry, he is the reason that  Marion feels forced into stealing the money which has no real importance to her which makes Sam’s character annoying to the audience. Sam instead waits to give Marion financial security instead of being the romantic hero, Marion’s theft is acted upon a selfish motive, and she just wants the best for her relationship. This is relatable to the audience therefore it creates an identification between her character and the audience.

Before the audience meet the villain Norma Bates they cross paths with Cassidy whom Marion steals the money from, he is the most evil character shown in the film by far. $40,000 deposit on a house for his daughter in Marion's place of work, he presents the cash to Marion her college and her boss showing his arrogance with money, the audience is left feeling angry towards his character because of his vulgar personality. For this reason Marion stealing the money becomes a heroic act and is overlooked but the audience because of their distaste for Cassidy whilst the enigma code for whether Marion will get away with it becomes priority to the audience.

After stealing the money Marion leaves town to go to Sam’s house and hoping to run away with him, the scenes following are somewhat disturbing close ups of Marion driving accompanied by a intense piece of diegetic music leaving the audience on edge. These are the scenes when the audience comes to terms with the wrongness of Marion's actions, our universal morality creeps up on us telling us stealing is wrong turning us against her decision. Marion also realises this along with the audience reflected in the conversations she is having in her mind, she never quite finishes her one with Sam signifying to the audience that Marion knows he will never agree to her decision to steal the money and will not want it confusing the audience because even though she knows this she carries on driving. This brings the audience closer to Marion because they are hearing her thoughts and can see her worried expression; this makes them mask her worry.