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Psychoanalysis of norman bates
Analytic take on psycho alfred hitchcock
Analytic take on psycho alfred hitchcock
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“For me, suspense doesn’t have any value if it’s not balanced by humor”, words of Alfred Hitchcock whose technique of using the combination of suspense and humor to engage the viewers is a technique many filmmakers today attempt at using in their films. Most suspenseful or even horror movies do not usually contain both, suspense and humor, yet Hitchcock used it in a majority of his films such as Psycho. Hitchcock used different and quirky characters, different settings, and a right balance between the two elements.
The characters used in Hitchcock’s films are infamous and known for their quirkiness; some even used in multiple of his films. Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins, came off as an awkward and troubled middle aged man who lived in the house behind the motel that he and his mother owned (Bates Motel). Due to him having an unnatural relationship with his mother and being alone a majority of the time, his nervousness and uneasiness was revealed. The mother is heard shouting from the house in the back and Norman apologizes on her behalf and states “she isn’t quite herself t...
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.
Eventually word got out he was in fact lying. so Alfred Hitchcock had to give another descirption of the movie Quote"Story of a young man whose mother is a homicidal maniac". The word psycho also means split personality. Alfred Hitchcock gives clues for this. e.g the word "Psycho" which is featured on the promoting poster has been completly shattered, which makes you think that the film is about split personalities.
Alfred Hitchcock’s films not only permanently scar the brains of his viewers but also addict them to his suspense. Hitchcock’s films lure you in like a trap, he tells the audience what the characters don’t know and tortures them with the anticipation of what’s going to happen.
One major attribute in Hitchcock films is how creatively Hitchcock tricks the audience about the fate of the characters and the sequence of events. Many people argue that it is a tactic by Hitchcock to surprise his audience in order to increase the suspense of the movie. For example, in Shadow of a Doubt, the audience assumes that young Charlie is an innocent young girl who loves her uncle dearly. However as the movie progresses, Young Charlie is not as innocent as the audience suspects. Young Charlie, once a guiltless child, ends up killing her evil uncle. In Vertigo, the same Hitchcock trickery takes place. In the beginning, the audience has the impression that the Blond women is possessed by another woman who is trying to kill her. The audience also has the notion that the detective is a happy man who will solve the murder case correctly. Just before the movie ends, the audience realizes that the detective was specifically hired by a man to kill his wife. The detective, in the end, seems to be the hopeless, sad victim.
Hitchcock’s techniques in North by Northwest to create suspense is unquestionable, because we have seen some of the elements of the mise en scene and camera shots he used to keep the audience guessing throughout the film. The film is “the wittiest, most sophisticated thriller ever made” (Ehrenstein par1). The film have “extraordinary technical skill or martini-dry sense of fun” (Ehrenstein par2), therefore, it is clear that North by Northwest is one of the most suspenseful movies of all
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.
The human body and mind are the most complex and intricate tools known to man. The connection between the two are remarkable, the way body feels pain and the mind is able to understand from where and how the pain is being formed, the way the body lags and drops when the mind does not have enough sleep and rest. Most curiously, it is the way our body and mind speak to each other without really knowing. It is the uncomfortable feeling in your chest, the tenseness of your shoulders and the goose-bumps on your arms that are the very basics of human intuition. Intuition is knowing something without having a logical or reasonable explanation to follow the feeling. But it is when our intuition overcomes our ability to think that we become paranoid; constantly looking over our shoulders, noticing people and objects that were never noticed before, and having this retching feeling that someone is out to get you. Paranoia is a thought process where anxiety and fear accumulate to the point where the person suffers from irritation and delusions. It is often developed through an inner guilty conscience which threatens the self. It is that exact tingling sensation in your stomach, the tightness in your throat and the eerie feeling that you are being watched that makes James and Hitchcock's pieces realistically fantastical. The alternate worlds illustrated in these pieces are not of those of dreams and fairy tales, nor those people superheroes or chimeras, but a realist world, where the minds of the characters are exposed and the only source of reliability. James depicts a young woman who struggles to be a heroine for her wards, only to be torn between the lines of sanity as she questions the existence of two ghosts, while Hitchcock’s psycho can ...
Alfred Hitchcock is known for his masters of works in the film industry. The film he is most famous for is Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock`s Psycho was critically acclaimed not only in the horror genre but within the entire film scene. It encompasses several key themes, which are portrayed through cinematic devices such as camera movement and sound, sound, lighting and costume and set design. The subject of madness becomes increasingly evident as the film progresses, centering on the peculiar character that is Norman Bates.
Inspired by the life of the demented, cannibalistic Wisconsin killer Ed Gein (whose heinous acts would also inspire THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, 1974 and DERANGED, 1974), PSYCHO is probably Hitchcock's most gruesome and dark film. Its importance to its genre cannot be overestimated. PSYCHO's enduring influence comes not only from the Norman Bates character (who has since been reincarnated in a staggering variety of forms), but also from the psychological themes Hitchcock develops.
The character of Norman Bates deviated from the book's original character, a forty year old pervert, to Anthony Perkins' character 'a tender vulnerable young man' one could almost feel sorry for. Perkins plays Norman Bates as if the role were written for him, with his nervous voice used throughout the movie and his awkward appearance and actions. A distinct part of Norman's character is his subtle lapses in which he shows signs of the ever present 'Mother'. The parlour scene is an excellent example of these lapses. The lines 'a boy's best friend is his mother' and 'we all go a little mad sometimes' are e...
The movie Psycho, is one of the most influential movie in Cinema history to date. The director Alfred Hitchcock, wanted to test many of the conventions of movie making that was common at that time. Alfred Hitchcock movie broke many cultural taboos and challenged the censors. Alfred Hitchcock showed a whole bunch of at the time absurd scene, for example: Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) dying naked while taking a shower, Norman Bates with split personality disorder, and the first ever flushing toilet shown in a movie. Because from the late 1920's to the late 1950's, movies were made usually go around the story, and usually with a lot dialogue. This movie gives the audience an experience that was much more emotional and intuitive. The viewers were caught up in a roller coaster of shock, surprise and suspense based on image, editing and sound.
In the article, “Psycho at Fifty: Pure Cinema or Invitation to an Orgy?” by John A. Bertolini, he describes how the images and scenes throughout the whole movie and its more arguable parts are what made the film stick with the imagination of Hitchcock’s audience. He goes on to give an explanation of how Hitchcock is as well one of few directors who is able to mix a little humor to go along with his vicious plot. Bertolini speculates that the audience was thrown off by savagery depicted in this film and more concerned with the emotions that were created by Hitchcock’s movie. He also outlines how much controversy the film created Psycho by stating how it, “reflected the changes at work in the larger society, especially the increasing insiste...
“It is said that analyzing pleasure, or beauty, destroys it” written by artist-historian, Laura Mulvey, she discusses the issues that arise when studying beauty. Examining and focusing on feminine beauty to the point of destroying it, has been a constant theme in cinema for decades. Director, Alfred Hitchcock’s has created 65 films in his 50-year long career, Hitchcock is now a common household name, being one of the most widely influential directors of the 20th century. Nicknamed “The Master of Suspense,” he made a name for himself by his incredible ability to visualize his subconscious fears and desires and turn them into a masterpiece. Throughout Hitchcock’s successful career, his films have a common theme of objectifying women through the
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