Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock

During the film we are able to use Todorov's 5 stages of narratives. The equilibrium being the opening scene of the story. This state the location, data and time, looking out on to a normal road. showing the audience that everything is normal. The disruption is when Cassidy come in to the office flash off with £40 000 and trying to impress and win over Marion Cane played by Janet Leigh, the main character. When she is asked to bring the money the bank by her boss. Marion see her opportunity to be with her true love Sam Loomis play by John Gavin. Recognition of disruption is when Marion is on the run after stealing the money. Attempt to repair disruption is when Marion is speaking to Norman Bates played by Anthony Perkins . After a long conversation with Norman, Marion see the wrong in what she is doing and decides that in the morning she will return back to Phoenix's and face her punishment. The story then has a new equilibrium as Marion is murdered. You could use these 5 stages in all different parts of the story as so much is going on .

Hitchcock uses many different ways to challenge and surprise the audience. One of them being the death of Marion. This is a shock to the audience as you identify with her for 47 minutes of the story. As for the whole film up to now we have only seen close ups of Marion's face and point of view shots, we are then lost as to how we need to identify with.  After seem the latch on the Anthony Perkins character Norman, but we don't seem to agree with what his character is doing as he is hiding Marion's body. We then start to identify with a more lawful character Arbogast. But we only get to do that for a shorter time than we did with Marion as he is also killed by Norman Bates Mother. I think the biggest supervise for the audience is when Norman turns out to have a split personality and he is not only himself but also his mother. Making him the psycho killer. this is so shocking as the first time we meet Normal he come across as a nice young man looking after his mother.

 

 

The narration of Psycho is restricted as the story is presented from one person's point of view. The audience only have access to the same information as the character. Meaning the audience have to work harder to figure out the narrative. I would also say that the binary oppositions of this film would be good vs. bad, Mother vs. child, crime vs. law and order and life vs. death. These  fit in with the narratives of the movie.

 

During the most famous scene in the movie a montage of shots are used. The lead up to this scene is slow as if time is dragging. Its as if Marion is doing everything she can to expand her time alive. when she is in the shower itself and we see the mother everything starts to move faster. As we watch the life and hope leaving Marion's body as she slowly dies everything starts to slow down again. During her murder there is around 52 different shots used, this is show the murder form different angles. This is also the first time in the film where we are not watching Marion from a close up or from her point of view.