Film Studies

Pascal Di Betta

Film: Psycho

September 7, 2107

Death of comfort

The shower scene is probably one of the most iconic “scary movie” scenes of all time. The scene starts out with Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) getting into the shower. We, as an audience, have been trained that when we are shown a scene, we expect to have an outcome. A good story teller only adds scenes that give information that moves the story forward. A scene that seems to have no apparent reason is up form manipulation. Depending on music, editing and former information, these “filler scenes” can take on whatever purpose the director needs it to be. In the case of this film, the filler scenes add suspense. Marion is in the shower, naked and relaxed. Then, we see the shadow approaching. The curtain is rip back and the figure begins stabbing Marion. Despite knowing that something bad was about to happen, it is surprising and leaves the audience in shock for a good 10 minutes. With the added music the scene takes on a demonic feeling, leaving us with a sense that we just came into contact with the devil.

The shots do a spectacular job of putting the audience right where they need to be. The camera is the perspective and perspective is the reason we have stories. A story is a point of view on life, human life in particular. The director tends to dictate what point of view it is. The camera is a way that the director can put us in a position of power or in a state of being dominated. In the shot where Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) is carrying his mother down the stairs we get an ariel view, giving us a sense of helplessness from the too characters below, letting us know it is a non threatening situation. However, in the shower scene we are giving a shot of the shower head from the perspective of a person looking up, and it is unsettling. We as an audience, in that one second shot are put in a position of being dominated. Hitchcock is also using something I would call double cutting, meaning he cuts to a shot that is almost identical to the previous cut. This causes uneasy because the second cut gives us no knew information, keeping us in the dark.

 

I wouldn't say that this film had a particular event which it was referencing. For instance, Casablanca pivots around world war 2 and the Grapes of Wrath revolves around the great depression, both answering question that were based at the time. Psycho seems to be more of an analysis of human nature. One thing I took away from this film was realizing just how fragile we are as humans, that insanity is just around the corner for the best of us. That is what the shower scene is doing. It puts us in the perspective of the killer, the the perspective of the bystander and the perspective of being killed. Hitchcock is opening us up and then letting us see the parts of ourselves that scares the most and that we value the most. Another creep idea that is brought up is the oedipal complex theory. Oedipus Rex is possibly of the grossest concepts a person can think of and the reason for this is because it is a part of ourselves that most reject. The idea of inset at that level freaks us out (with a parent) because it goes against the fundamentals of the sexual reproduction. This movie is taking humans greatest fear and shoving it in their faces.