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Critical analysis of gone girl
Gone girl film analysis essay
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I’d have to disagree with the “No More Noir” belief as I’ve continued to see the noir genre within several hit TV series, novels and films. To list a few: Dexter, the TV series revolving around the life of a serial-killer, and I’ve even seen reference to two noir films: Rear Window and Psycho in one episode of a stop-motion animated sketch-comedy TV series called Robot Chicken. However, to get down to the nitty-gritty of it, two strong examples that I believe are able to go against the belief of no more noir would have to be the TV series Bates Motel and the 2014 film Gone Girl. The TV series Bates Motel focuses on the earlier years in the life of Norman Bates, who also happens to be the main character of Alfred Hitchcock’s film Psycho. The
show is meant to portray Norman’s adolescent life and the progression of how he came to be the psychotic dual-personality he is in Psycho. The series portrays a very innocent and composed Norman and shows his transition into a not-so-innocent, frightening and deranged boy. We follow him on a journey of oscillation back and forth between his alter-personalities, psychotic breaks and sexual orientation. All derived from a certain femme fatale, who in this case is his own mother Norma Bates. Often, it is uncomfortable watching their relationship as they are excessively conjoined by the hip – they are each owns best friend. We watch Norman beginning to unravel in terms of his saneness, as his mother pushes him over the edge. However, he is addicted to her in a fatal way as he cannot bear to see a day without his mother by his side. There is an oscillation between Norman and his mother and their reign of power, in which Norma clearly gets the better end of the deal as she is eventually left with a loving and loyal boy who has in fact given up a portion of himself and declared part of it to belong to his own mother, sparking the mental illness and dual-personality. Norman Bates and his mother Norma Bates (completely sensible) are both characters that portray the very image of noir. Norman is in the constant oscillation of gender as he fights to be himself and what his mother pleases. In fact, she babies him and protects him past the point of the norm. In fact, it’s rather quite excessive. Another compelling example would be the novel Gone Girl, written by Gillian Flynn. The novel has now become a new 2014 film release and has given off quite the reputation - proving that noir might just be very much alive today. The movie revolves around anti-hero Nick Dunne, and his beloved wife Amy Dunne. At the beginning of the film, it is revealed that Nick’s wife has gone missing and potentially kidnapped. Spoiler alert – Later on, it is revealed that Amy is rather quite alive and high on life as she has just gotten away with faking her death and framing her cheating beau, Nick. Through twist and turns, the couple end up back together. Thus, revealing that Amy is in fact the femme fatale and has been cleverly able to lure her Husband Nick into a never-ending and deadly trap.
Psycho is a suspense-horror film written by Joseph Stefano and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film was loosely adapted from Robert Bloch’s 1959 suspense novel, Psycho. A majority of the movie was filmed in 1960 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Psycho is about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary from Arizona who steals $40,000 from her employer’s client. She takes that money and drives off to California to meet her lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) in order to start a new life. After a long drive, she pulls off the main highway and ends up taking refuge at an isolated motel owned and managed by a deranged Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Psycho, symbols, character and point of view are three literary aspects used in the film to manipulate the audience’s emotions and to build suspense in the film.
Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho"-the movie the world recognised-was first premiered in the home town of New York on the 16th June 1960.The film follows the life and strife of a young beautiful woman Marion Crane, played by the Janet Leigh, who is on the run from the police after stealing $40.000, she manages to find refuge at the Bates motel where she makes her worst mistake possible. During and after the film production of "Psycho" Alfred Hitchcock had his aids buy as many copies as possible of the novel "Psycho"-written by Robert Bloch. Why? To conceal the ending form the public's eye so when the film was shown in cinemas the audience would'nt know the ending. When people found out the title of the movie Hitchcock said it was based on a greek love story "Psyche".
The 1960 horror film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, explores the idea of duality and conflicting sides of human nature. The characters are conflicted in several ways and as the narrative unfolds are faced with decisions which ultimately uncover the predominant side to their contrasting personalities. Immediately, the opening credits and scene foreshadows the idea of duality, presenting Marion Crane as the first conflicted character. Hitchcock cleverly utilizes images and mirrors, to explore the characters dualities - establishing a difference between their moral and immoral behaviour. Furthermore, showing the audience two sides of the characters, perhaps the most obvious is the character Norman Bates.
Suspense is only one of Hitchcock’s many techniques and themes. His themes range from the obvious violence, to the depths of human interaction and sex. From Rear Window to Psycho, Hitchcock’s unique themes are present and evident. Rear Window starts with something we all do at times, which is nosing in and stalking on others business, and turns it into a mysterious investigation leaving the viewer second guessing their neighbors at home. Psycho on the other hand, drags
The two films Psycho and The Birds, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, share similar themes and elements. These recurring themes and elements are often prevalent in many of Hitchcock’s works. In Psycho and The Birds, Hitchcock uses thematic elements like the ideal blonde woman, “the motherly figure”, birds, and unusual factors that often leave the viewer thinking. Hitchcock’s works consist of melodramatic films, while also using pure cinema to help convey messages throughout the film.
Specifically, the 1925 painting House by the Railroad, is suggestive of numerous movies, including Giant (George Stevens, 1956), Days of Heaven (Terrence Malick, 1978), and in Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960). Hitchcock openly recognized the impact of the canvas on his configuration of the house. On a simple compositional note, both are strangely comparable Victorians with a tall primary tower and little patio out front. Consider likewise, the Hopper painting is situated alongside a relinquished railroad track, apparently unimportant, yet incorporated into the canvas' title. The Bates Motel is likewise close to a little pre-interstate parkway street, prompting its dreary business. Both homes are apparently deserted amidst transportation
‘L.A Confidential is in the film noir genre. Other films in this genre are ‘The Big Sleep’, ‘The Maltese Falcon’ and ‘Double Indemnity’. Lighting is very important in film noir. It uses techniques such as chiaroscuro to give the film a darker, more obscured feel. The characters are often similar in film noir. The main protagonist is always some hard boiled cop or investigator who doesn’t always play by the book to get his desired results. There is often a femme fatale; a very pretty woman with whom the main protagonist has a love interest. There will always be bad guys who will try and stop the main protagonist from completing the case.
Norman’s mind housed two personalities, his and his mother’s. After his father had died, Norman and his mother had lived “as if there was no one else in the world.” A few years later, Norman’s mother met a man that she planned to marry. Driven with jealousy, Norman murdered both the man and his mother because he had felt replaced. The guilt ate him up and caused him to pretend that his mother was still alive. In order to do this, half of him became his mother. Just as Norman was jealous of any man who came near his mother, the mother half of Norman was also jealous of anyone that aroused Norman himself. Therefore, when Marion came to stay at the Bates Motel, owned by Norman, he was attracted to her, and his attraction spurred the mother half of him to become jealous and murder Marion. Sometimes Norman would dress up as his mother when reality came too close and threatened his illusion. Since his mind was housing two personalities, there was a battle, and eventually his mother won and completely took over Norman. Norman was gone, and his mother has fully taken over (Psycho). The viewers realize that Norman Bates never meant to hurt anyone. It was his jealous emotions stemming from his mother that caused him to murder Marion. In Norman’s case, his mental illness was to blame for his vile crime. Through this portrayal, the viewers are more likely to view mental illnesses negatively. Because Norman’s
In Psycho by Alfred Hitchcock, the conversation between Marion and Norman has shown extreme importance to both the plot and the themes of the movie. As the movie shown Norman’s psychotic mind, we but give great evidence of how the environment had influence on him. With the comparison of other character’s personalities, audiences are actually persuaded back to see the similarity of his mind to normal people’s. Traps are also discussed in this significant dialogue, to show his logical thinking of his situation. As scenes of logics shown from Norman comes up one by one, Norman’s rational process of thinking give as a big question ‘Is he really a Psycho or just the smartest murderer?’
Given that Norman Bates takes on the identity of his mother in response to a strange attachment that he has to her, as Norman himself says, “a boy’s best friend is his mother,” and that his mother is his “trap” that he “was born into,” it appears that Hitchcock’s lifelong interest in Freudian psychology is very intense in that Norman Bates had an Oedipus complex. If this is true, Psycho contains the emasculation of Norman at the hands of a woman, who happens to be his mother. The idea that Norman Bates remained in love with his mother and that Marion has the power to provoke this pathology, Psycho is another example of a female having power over a man, or a “boy”—in the case of Norman Bates.
Norman Bates is arguably the most unforgettable character in the horror genre. His movements, voice and aura at first radiate a shy young man but transform into something more sinister as the movie Psycho (Hitchcock, USA, 1960) progresses. How has the director, Alfred Hitchcock, achieved this? Norman Bates was a careful construct: the casting, body language, lighting and even the subtle use of sound and mise-en-scène created the character.
Through the use of irony, mis en scene and recurring symbols, Hitchcock has reinforced the fundamental idea of duality throughout his film, Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960’s American psychological horror thriller, was one of the most awarded films of its time, proposing contrasting connections between characters, Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh, and cinematic/film techniques to develop this idea. Irony identifies contrasts between the dual personalities of Marion Crane and Norman Bates, often foreshadowing the future events of the film. Mis en scene is particularly influential to enforcing the idea of duality, evidently shown through the music and diegetic sounds used. The recurring symbols including the mirrors and specifically the birds, underpin a representation of the character’s dual personalities. Hitchcock’s use of devices reinforces the dual personalities of characters Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.
Norman Bates was an American serial killer and keeper of The Bates Motel in California. Bates suffered from Dissociative Identity Disorder and psychotic behavior, believing himself to be controlled by his mother. At the same time, he suffered from visual and auditory hallucinations, in which his mother apparently talked him into committing acts of violence to satisfy her. When his mother’s personality took over, Norman would fly into murderous rages targeting women who aroused him. He is known to have eventually killed his mother and kept her mummified corpse in the basement of his house for many years. He is the primary antagonist of the 1960 film, Psycho and appears as the anti-hero/protagonist villain. Lastly, Norman 's incestuous relationship
The film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a psychological thriller that was created in 1960. The main theme of this film revolves around psychological illnesses. The film focuses on the main character, Norman Bates, and his psychological problems which include a split personality, voyeurism, sadism, guilt and self-punishment, and anal fixation. Throughout the movie you can see Bates exhibit these traits at different points; however, some traits are not as clearly evident as others. This film takes an in-depth look at how someone who possesses a mental illness might behave or think.
From the very beginning of the film “Psycho”, Hitchcock brings the audience into suspense as to what is going on behind the window of the hotel. The first scene takes us through the city of Phoenix, which represents “a mythical bird that is reborn from the ashes of fiery death”, and we see through this “mythical bird” a foreshadowing of Norman’s mother’s rebirth after he kills her. From guilt or to not get caught, Norman turns himself into her to bring her back to life (Jay). We go further in watching the camera scan the buildings in bird’s-eye view, which again represents the mythical bird. It takes focus on one window,