Review and Histroical Background on the Film: Psycho

When Psycho was first released the critics treated it with anger and critical rejection but audiences were screaming, yelling and even running down the aisles at its first screening and later even the critics agreed that it was 'Hitchcock's greatest film' Psycho was made on the back of a couple of failures for Hitchcock. Both Flamingo Feather and No bail for the judge failed to materialise and Paramount were putting pressure on Hitchcock for success. When he announced that his next film Psycho was to be made on a budget of under 1 million dollars people were shocked. Hitchcock's films were usually made on a huge budget and by Hollywood's standard 1million was a very cheap film.

To help promote the film Hitchcock made a trailer. It stimulates the audience interest by giving clues about things that happen in the film. Alfred Hitchcock is giving bits of information about the plot of Psycho but doesn't finish telling us, pretending that he is too squeamish or forgetful. He uses hock words like dire, horrible and murder for effect and he shows pictures of particularly important things like the motel and the house. He point to certain things in each room and tells us that they have a particular importance but doesn't finish telling us why.

The films plot was unlike any other films. The first part of the film is spent convincing the audience that the film was about the money that Marrion stole from her work but it is actually about the events at the Bates motel an about the mind of Norman Bates. Hitchcock involves us in the film by letting us see the film though the eyes of the main characters. For example he shows us looking through the eyes of Lila when we are looking at the corpse of Norman's mother and we see Marion's boss next to her car through the eyes of Marion. This helps us to fell the characters emotions and understand how they are feeling.

Even though the two different plots in Psycho are very different there are still many similarities between them. There are many things that appear in the Marion Crane plot that also appear distortedly in the Norman Bates plot. On of these things is a feeling of secrecy. Marion is lying about every movement in her life that she makes in the film, from having a headache and going home from the office to lying to Norman Bates about where she lived. Norman Bates whole life is a lie. His life revolves around the relationship that he has with his mother only he has to play the part of his mother as well as himself as she is dead. Another similarity is the relationship that the two characters have with the people closest to them. Norman doesn't know any other people apart from his mother and although she doesn't exist in the film we find out from Norman that the relationship is based upon jealousy. Norman can't except that his mother would have any sort of relationship with any other person except than him. In the end when his mother finds a man jealousy overcomes him and he murders his mother and her man.

Marion is jealous of the relationship that Sam Loomis has with his proper girlfriend/wife. She is having an affair with him and wants him to leave his girlfriend/wife to come and be with her. This jealousy may have led her to steal the money and go on the run which as far as we know is against her natural character. This is Hitchcock's way of saying that we all have a bit of Norman Bates in us and all we need is one incident in our life to make us turn into him.

Hitchcock creates suspense well in the film. He does this by the camera work that he does and the music that is in the film. We are constantly worrying about Marion even when nothing bad happens to her in the first part of the film. This is because we have dramatic and creepy music even when she is just driving down the road. This makes the audience feel that they can't stop watching the film because something important could happen to her at any time. Of course we think that the we are watching to see if she gets caught with the money that she has stole but that isn't what the suspense is leading up to .We also see this with Norman Bates. We hear the music when he is in the film. Again the audience is confused to what the suspense I leading to. We think that the plot is based about Marion and the stolen money so that we are watching to see if Norman's confusion is about finding out about the stolen money. The camera is watching the other characters as if through the eyes of Norman and Marion. This makes us feel there worries and fears of being caught and make us also feel confused about what is going to happen to them.

Hitchcock also uses shock tactics to make the film more memorable. The shower scene where Marion is killed is the obvious one. We see Marion in a helpless position and suddenly the shower curtain is pulled back and the knife thrusts forward. Again the music helps to create terror. There is the build up of creepy music and then the sudden noises of the screaming and the stabbing. This sound is reproduced when Arbogast is murdered and when hear this sound in the fruit cellar we presume that Lila is going to get murdered. The behaviour of the characters also creates shock. The bloodcurdling screams of Lila and Marion create terror with the audience. Even if they aren't watching they will still feel the terror that Hitchcock creates.

Hitchcock uses irony well in the film. Often this goes unnoticed when looking at the film but when it's watched a second time this irony becomes apparent. For example when the police officer encourages her to sleep in a motel instead of in her car. This is ironic because the most unsafe place that she could be in is the Bates Motel. Sometimes though it is noticed at a first watch. One example of this is when the owner of the car exchange says 'the first customer of the day is always trouble.' Of course this is true as Marion is trouble; she wants to exchange her car for any other car and also wants to pay in cash. The film might by the way that Hitchcock looks at life. Watching from the outside and seeing the irony that occurs in everybody's life.

There are many motifs that are reoccurring in psycho. Mirrors are shown a lot. They are shown before both Arbogast and Marion is going to be murdered. There is also the mirror in reception that we see Lila and Sam in when they arrive at Bates Motel. This gives us the impression that they are going to be the next people to die. Another motif is characters being watched. Often the character being watched has some kind of guilt that the person watching cannot see. For example when Arbogast is watching Norman at the motel and when Norman is watching Marion through the peephole. Water is also used a lot in the film. It is often showed to wash away sin. The toilet washing the sums away and the shower washing the blood away are good examples of this. This changes at the end of the film in the last image of the car being pulled from the swamp- the water bringing up the truth not washing the truth away. Another reoccurring thing in the film is concealment, the robbery and the murders being hidden. In the end it is because Lila is trying to conceal herself from Norman that she finds the corpse and the truth comes out.

I think that Psycho was right to have been described under the genre horror, even thought it is a more psychological film than a film that is meant to scare people. A horror needs suspense, violence and tension and psycho fits into all of the criteria. It is different from many horror films though. There isn't any needless violence in it. It is based upon the state of mind of one of the main characters. This is unusual but it still is right to be described as a horror film.

The portrayal of the female characters showed Marion as a strong character. She thought about what she was doing after the robbery for example buying a new car and giving a fake address at Bates Motel. There are some signs of sexism in the film though. There is Norman lusting after Marion that can be seen as sexist male behaviour. This is only one thing though and cannot be seen as something that is constantly running throughout the film.

In my opinion, the film was a very well made. It built up tension throughout the film and when it was released the shock came in. The end of the film was disturbing and satisfying. It completed all of the film and answered all of the questions that had been built up during the film. It was disturbing because of the way that Norman's mother had taken over Normans mind. The scene that was at the end of Norman sitting in the police cell is one of the most disturbing scenes in the film. It is still one of the best films showing the mind of a schizophrenic today.