Alfred Hitchcock has reserved for himself a place in cinema history as the "Master of Suspense." An accomplished and well-spoken Englishman, he approached every subject with a fresh vision and dry wit. Rather than addressing the restrained and romantic subjects of his era's culture, Hitchcock drew from the subversive and macabre. His works span from the nineteen-thirties to the nineteen-seventies. While nearly all of his works are masterpieces in their own right, one particular work stands out in the realm of cinema as being a truly defining film for Hitchcock. This work was the superb and unsettling Psycho.
A mesmerizing and stunning film, Psycho was released in nineteen-sixty in black and white, because Hitchcock believed the film would be too graphic for color. Film censors were stunned with the movie's depiction of sexual content, nudity, and violence in a way previously considered taboo. Psycho is one of the few films from its era to have retained an R rating to this day. This testifies to the film's unflinching portrayal of its disturbing subject matter.
Psycho deals heavily with the concept of mental illness and its representation and consequences in culture. Norman Bates is a seemingly normal hotel manager under the iron-eye of an overbearing "mother." He comes across as nearly pleasant to a fault in most circumstances, conversing in a needy and child-like manner with his single guest, Marion Crane. Marion responds politely to his demeanor as she is in need of a place to stay after having trouble with her car. However, the audience is alerted to the abnormality of the situation as Norman becomes defensive when confronted about his overbearing "mother" and by Norman's voyeuristic tendencies as he watches Marion undress in her room.
As the film progresses, we listen to Norman's "mother" demean him for becoming involved with a female, as he responds in his signature child-like manner. Norman's "mother" becomes convinced that this woman is not safe to leave alone with her son, so she decides to put a stop to their interaction. Whilst Marion is showering, the audience hears the now famous shrieking score. In possibly the most frantic scene ever filmed, the "mother" is revealed to be Norman. After swinging open the shower curtain, Norman, complete with wig and dagger, stabs Marion to death.
One could possibly spend an entire essay examining this single scene, but for the purposes of this paper, the explanation will only be a cursory one. The scene is filmed in a sequence of close-ups and quick cuts, mainly of Marion's face, arms, and legs. Through suggestion and convincing, diagetic sound effects, the audience is led to believe that they are literally watching Marion be stabbed to death. In reality, the knife is not once shown piercing the skin, and blood is nearly absent until Marion is shown laying dead with blood swirling down the drain. The scene ends with Marion staring lifelessly into the camera in a truly haunting scene.
Also of interest is the near-lack of nudity in the scene. By quickly cutting between face, arms, and legs, one is under the impression that they are seeing Marion nude. But this is only because of the quick cuts. If one were to watch the scene in half-time, it would become apparent that only one out-of-focus nude shot is even present.
After disposing of the body, investigation ensues. It is eventually revealed that Norman keeps his death mother in a chair in the basement, and treats her as if she were real. After an abusive and controlled childhood, Norman was unable to disconnect himself emotionally from his mother after her death, so he simply took on her role, splitting his personality into two distinct entities. It is of great note that the film's plot was inspired by Ed Gein, whose background and crimes were of a strikingly similar nature to those of Norman Bates.
Psycho works on multiple levels as a commentary on its period and an attempt to bring the concept of mental health to a higher level of discussion. While the film does not explicitly state its intentions, symptomatically this shocking portrayal of illness and death was going to open a dialog regarding mental health that could not be previously held in the public sphere.
After filming Psycho, it was reported that the use of the term "transvestite" was actually considered objectionable to the censor board, but Hitchcock refused to succumb to their wishes, as he had already duped them during the aforementioned shower scene by including extraneous footage for the censors to cut.
During the final scene, after the psychologist has met with the authorities and explained Norman's condition, the scene peers into Norman's padded cell. He is seen wearing a straight-jacket and muttering to himself. As the audience listens to the conversation, it becomes readily apparent that Norman is speaking in two distinct voices, those of him and his mother. He continues this disturbing conversation until he speaks a final line, then gazes into the camera with one of the most twisted and chilling expressions captured on film.
