Pyscho Review!!! (1.3 Preparation)

Psycho (1960) - Alfred Hitchcock



I have been trying to find time to watch one of Hitchcock's films for quite a while, and the time finally came up this Sunday afternoon, when I sat down to watch Psycho.

This film was not quite how I expected.

First off, I was expecting it to have at first a more complex storyline, rather than the simple storyline having a deep complexitiy to it. I was suprised that the famous shower scene was not so far into the film, and that the film was actually told in a variety of different perspectives as it progressed. (Each of the characters had their own story to tell, and all their own end.)

I was also expecting the film to be more boring, and slightly slower moving. Instead, the film more or less jumped straight into it, gripping me straight away. There were some slower scenes, but they were atmospheric and, like the whole film, full of suspense.

The starting point of the story is of a young woman, given $40,000 to take to the bank as part of her job. She excuses herself from work, off "sick", and then, rather than going to the bank, she drives out of the city with the money, off to meet her boyfriend, she is currently having relationship and financial trouble with, in another city, where he lives. Her journey kicks off the suspense, as she is followed, and as she suspects she is found out after her boss notices her in the car.
Unfortunately, her journey ends before she gets to where she's going. And this is where it gets more interesting.

The film winds up as a mystery solving thriller, as a group of different characters try to figure out what's going on. A creepy, unexpected twist is what comes out of it at the end, as the whole film ties up and leaves you gawping.
Of course, the "shower scene" is the most notorious scene, a deep hack at thriller killing scenes that has gone down in history, but which involves no spurting blood, no knife-body contact, just a fast montage of clips, switching between different camera angles, the killer, above, and the woman being attacked.

But it's not just the shower scene that makes this film awesome. Almost the whole film is gripping and exciting, and by the end the plot is very intricate.

Hitchcock uses sometimes subtle, cinematic effects which add to the film's feel, and add to the feeling of suspense, and forthcoming and immediate danger. The music plays a big part in the film, rising and dying as the film gets more intense, and shaking with urgency as the killing scene(s) take place. Music is also used to show characters current emotions, as in one scene, Marion Crane, (Janet Leigh), drives in her car away from a police officer; though the urgency does not seem to present in our view, Marion's horror is shown vividly in the film's orchestral peices.
The camera sometimes shows things you may not notice straight away, and that are not nessecarily important, but add more texture and feeling to the deepening story, and some speech can reveal subtle notes that are clues to what could be going on. Or are they red herrings?

This film is a brilliant film, that can be appreciated by all, if not amazed at by many. Hitchcock's masterpeice should not just be known for the "shower scene" but for the whole peice, a great, classic movie.


9/10