Psycho is an American psychological thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1960; Robert Bloch and Joseph Stefano are the film’s screenwriters. This movie was definitely the most important milestone in the thriller-detective genre. Its spirit and influence are still clearly felt in almost every film and TV series about maniacs and their victims. This film is considered the first modern horror film ever made. Its greatest merit is to change the narrative point of view. After the murder of Marion Crane – the protagonist, the narrative continues from Norman Bates’ point of view, and the audience has to get into the mind of the mania c (Park, 2018). This technique has become very popular with directors of such films in the future (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011). Hitchcock’s unique narrative style, unexpected plot twists and faithful use of various elements of cinematic language are what allowed Psycho to become a legendary movie.
In the mid-1950s, Hitchcock was not yet a cult producer. He was considered a middle-range director, one of the many creators of crime films, and not ranked among the classics. Truffaut, Chabrol, Godard, who fell in love with Hitchcock’s films, created his cult that still exists today. They elevated him to the rank of the author – in the meaning which, in those same years, they developed in the theory of auteur cinema. According to this theory, the movie is a work of art, and the director is the author and the key figure in the whole process.
Hitchcock is a director with an exclusive vision, and his film Psycho is filled with characteristics unique to his work. With every shot, mise-en-scène, and montage, he proved that cinema is not just a story. It is first and foremost the magic of the interaction between man in the audience and the shadow on the white canvas of the screen. With the help, not so much of the plot as the film language – angles, frame duration, camera movement, light, color – Hitchcock completely captured the viewer’s attention. Most of Hitchcock’s predecessors made third-person movies when the camera was only an idle observer of the events. Hitchcock was the first to tell the story from the protagonist’s point of view and made the viewer an active participant in the action. By narrating from Norman’s point of view, the director skillfully manipulated the viewers’ perception and led them to an unexpected and startling plot twist. Based on all the received information, the audience began to believe in the hero’s innocence and empathized with his inner struggle.
The narrative structure of Hitchcock’s films can be seen as a constant alternation of the predictable and the unpredictable. In Psycho, the director misleads the viewer by introducing Marion Crane as the protagonist and removing her within about fifty minutes of the movie. He makes the audience think that they know a certain structural scheme of the text. He sets them up with a certain expectation, and, consequently, the viewers begin to think that they have the power to predict the future course of events. It is evident at this point that the director changes the type of schema. He forces the audience to construct the structural principles of the organization of the text anew. Thus, on the narrative level, the category of unpredictability is realized in Hitchcock’s films through surprise. (Wang & Wang, 2020). In Hitchcock’s Psycho, there are multiple changes of perspective, due to which it is possible to develop the plot smoothly. As a consequence of this technique, it is possible to surprise the audience by changing the main character when the audience has already seen one third of the movie.
It is in this film, perhaps, that the famous Hitchcockian suspense is most vivid. In fact, in Psycho, the audience’s emotional tension is achieved not by what is shown on the screen but by what is not shown. The fact is that when the viewer watches the film for the first time, they are completely immersed in the plot (Meetze, n.d.). The highly engaging plot causes the viewer to ignore important details – it hints that things are not happening the way they are supposed to. It turns out that the protagonist, from whose point of view the audience perceives the film’s plot, is by no means the strangest figure. And the main danger of the young woman’s precarious position lies not at all where one would expect it. The paranoia of the narrative follows the plot of the film but is revealed through dialogue, specific editing, and other cinematic devices.
One cannot say that Psycho has only one plot, as the film begins as a standard forbidden love story and ends with the resolution of Norman’s identity mystery. These two plot structures are subtly intertwined with each other. For the viewer’s convenience, Hitchcock hints early on at the events to come. So, for example, in the intimacy scene, Sam asks Marion to turn his mother’s picture to the wall. However, the ending in no way echoes the beginning and remains an extremely independent part of the film. It is as if there is no hope of extracting Norman from the mental disorder he suffers. The narrative in this film can be described as an alternation of subjective and objective scenes. Sometimes techniques are used to show intimacy with the main characters, such as close-ups. Then, Hitchcock gives preference to objective, almost documentary filming, such as the scene of handing over money at the bank. Thus, the successive change of narrative types ensures the dynamism of the plot.
All the filmmakers, including the camera operators, musicians, and artists, contributed to making this film a masterpiece. However, one of the biggest factors in its success is Bernard Herrmann’s incredible soundtrack. His famous violin ensemble helps connect the viewer to the killer and his actions. The music plays a key role in creating dramatic tension throughout the film. The composer and string orchestra created a nervous atmosphere of unease that helped Hitchcock scare people. Most interestingly, the two scariest scenes in the film, the legendary shower scene, and the scene where Milton Arbogast climbs the stairs, are not scary if watching them without sound. This musical theme is the benchmark for horror films, and it has left a huge mark on the genre and the film as a whole. The piercing, knife-like blades remain in the viewer’s memory for a long time, as does the scene itself. This scene is a milestone for all world cinema and perhaps Hitchcock’s best scene of his long career.
The entire soundtrack is an integral part of Psycho, starting with the string explosion in the opening credits. The musical effects invented by Hitchcock were used in many later horror films. For example, it was necessary when the director wanted to create the required atmosphere or to emphasize the sense of impending danger. One of the most striking examples remains Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, made in 1975; however, Hitchcock’s influence on Spielberg was not limited to music alone (Melo, 2019). It is worth noting that the director liked the composition so much that he even changed his original plan to make the shower scene in complete silence (Leitch, 2020). The disturbing music filled space and time, contributing to the success of the perception of the picture with the audience.
Some scenes in the film are characterized by aggressive editing, atypical of Hollywood cinema. For example, the minute-long shower scene consists of 52 clips, and a subjective camera was also used. It allows the viewer to see everything close-up, alternately from the point of view of the killer and the victim. Apart from its purely practical purpose (intensifying the action), the dashing montage served a kind of protective function, making the film invulnerable to the Hayes Commission. Hitchcock managed to confuse the censors completely: he deliberately overloaded the film with risky content to bargain with the censors. As a result, when the censors declared that it was inadmissible to show a woman being stabbed in a movie, Hitchcock demanded a careful review of the scene. It turned out that the Hayes Code was not violated; the knife in the frame never penetrates the body.
The main sets built for the film were Bates’ Gothic house and a dilapidated motel, which emphasize the film’s conflict through a distinct vertical and horizontal contrast. This contrast is evident throughout the film, beginning with the opening credits. Many critics think that the building on the hill can be considered one of the protagonists of the story. Because the sets were made with such meticulous care, the audience could feel the film’s atmosphere much more strongly—for example, the use of symbols strengthened the anxious atmosphere. In particular, Hitchcock emphasized the need for windows and mirrors. The set design was developed by production designers Joseph Hurley and Robert Clatworthy. Among the prototypes of the house was the home of the Addams family from the newspaper comics. A house with a loft in a painting by Edward Hopper’s House by the Railroad was also used. All these details combine to form an overall oppressive and frightening atmosphere necessary for the film.
In the culture, Psycho has become one of the most quoted movies in movie history-the shower murder scene alone has been parodied thousands of times. This film had an incredible impact on the existing world cinema. Unprepared for the violence, audiences at the time were astonished, and after its premiere, horrors became the most popular genre of movies. The film was the epitome of a new genre, one that was laced with psychoanalysis and horror, enhanced by soundtracks and an atmosphere of unease. To this day, however, Hitchcock’s Psycho remains an unsurpassed embodiment of brilliant directing and sophisticated filmmaking ideas. It became the second most profitable film in the American film history. Hitchcock’s formula for success was profitably transferred to European cinema and formed new standards for shooting horror films. Shocking murders, the image of a mysterious maniac with the appearance of an ordinary guy, and the use of a subjective camera are features that are now, thanks to Hitchcock, inherent in most horror movies.
References
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C. P. (2011). Film: From watching to seeing. Bridgepoint Education.
Leitch, T. (2020). The sounds of Hitchcock’s silence. Hitchcock Annual, 23, 1–66. Web.
Meetze, J. (n.d.). Film analysis: putting it all together [Video]. Ashford University. Web.
Melo, L.W. (2019). The oncoming horror in “Jaws”: A multimodal translation analysis comparing novel and film. The Federal University of Santa Catarina. Web.
Park, M. (2018). The aesthetics and psychology behind horror films. Long Island University. Web.
Wang, Y., & Wang, Y. (2020). A neurocinematic study of the suspense effects in Hitchcock’s Psycho. Frontiers in Communication, 5, 1-15. Web.