Psycho (1960) Film Analysis

Psycho (1960) Film Analysis


Psycho (1960) Film Analysis

Director Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film, Psycho, is a psychological thriller about a human psychotic, Norman Bates. The film starts off with an opportunistic theft lead by Marion Crane. As she heads towards the city to meet her love interest, she stops by to spend the night at the Bates Motel where she meets Norman Bates. She is murdered in the shower by what appears to be Norman’s mother, after which, Norman helps dispose of the body. Marion’s disappearance turns into a hunt lead by a detective, her sister, and love interest. They all trail back to the motel where the detective is also murdered and where we finally find out the truth about Norman Bates, when Hitchcock introduces the notion of the split personality he’s been living with.

The scenes in Psycho definitely go together to build up the climax of the film. It starts off with a scene that is all very normal and slowly draws the audience deeper into the abnormal; it opens up by making us aware of time, to a scene during the day, where Marion Crane and Sam Loomis are talking about their relationship and how they can’t get married. It ends with a completely different situation in which time has ceased to exist when Norman Bates is sitting in an empty room talking to himself.

The characters are definitely consistent and develop more and more throughout the film. I believe that there’s a theme of split personality in the characters of this film. Most would probably only notice this with Normans character, although, Hitchcock presents this notion of split personality with Marion. There are constant shots of Marion’s reflection in mirrors and windows throughout the film. Through this, Hitchcock creates a very personal and sensual sensation within the audience to help them visualize the situation that Marion is going through. When Marion enters the small bathroom to get some privacy while counting her money, the angle of the camera and placing of the mirror almost brings...

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