Psycho

In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, //Psycho//, Marion Crane steals 40,000 dollars and runs away with it. As she flees from town, she meets Norman Bates, the owner of the Bates motel who ends up killing her. The film takes off from there, in which she has gone missing and her sister, boyfriend, and along with a private detective, try to find her. Throughout the film there are constant themes of lies and duality; Marion lies her way out in pursuit for a new life with her boyfriend and has two sides. Norman Bates on the other hand has two sides to himself, which alternates between himself and his mother. This can be seen through the numerous film techniques Hitchcock uses.

One of the themes of the film is lies, which is evidently shown through the Mise en Scène. When the audience first sees Marion Crane, she is in white clothes, however; before she leaves town, she switches to a darker shade of clothing. This reflects the theme of lies, as she becomes a “darker” character who does not have a clean slate. As white is a symbol of being pure, and a darker tone associates with a dirty and unclean feel, it shows that there is a change between her actions before and after taking the money. Moreover, during the scene with herself and her boyfriend, Sam, she is seen in white underwear but is seen in black underwear while she packs. As the shade of her clothing is significantly lighter in color, it could be inferred that in her heart she knows she is bearing a huge lie of stealing, while on the outside, she covers up her lies and disguises the truth. Another difference in color is her bag. She brings a white handbag from the office and leaves town with a black one. Consequently, this shows that she “carries” herself differently and is no longer the ordinary secretary that she once was.

The other theme is duality, which can be seen through the setting and editing. Throughout the film, most of the indoor settings contain a lot of mirrors. This can be seen in the scene where she prepares to leave. Before Crane takes the 40,000 dollars, she looks into the mirror and stares at the envelope containing the money. The shots are cut between the envelope and herself before she actually takes it. This not only emphasizes the McGuffin of the film but also explores the theme of duality. The cuts shows that Marion Crane could go both ways and that there is a part of her that doesn’t want to take the money and another part of her that is tempted to take it and leave town. The use of mirror is also seen as she walks into the Bates Motel, where she is reflected at her side. This placement literally shows that Crane has two “sides”, which relates to the theme of duality. Furthermore, an interesting thing I found out at the ‘Hitchcock Workshop’ was that in the last two scenes: where Norman Bates breaks the forth wall and the car getting pulled up, there was a glimpse of the teeth of the corpse (his mother’s). This again supports the theme of duality, as Norman Bates plays the role of himself and his mothers. Furthermore, the cut to the next scene of the car getting pulled out shows that it was “his mother” who did all of that.

There is a suspenseful and fearful tone to the film and this can be seen through the cinematography and music. Hitchcock is known to be the Master of Suspense, and one of the ways he uses to create suspense effectively is his voyeuristic style. For example, when Bates looks through the hole through the wall, Marion Crane is exposed to him and is vulnerable to Bates. Consequently, the audience feels as vulnerable as they hold the bystander position and feel helpless when Bates is up to no good. As Crane gets murdered, the audience has no choice but to watch her die, moreover, right before she dies, she seems to reach out to the camera, confronting the audience. Lastly, as the shot cuts from the spiral of water to her eye, the audience is stared at by the dead which gives a fearful and creepy tone. As the audience gets used to Hitchcock’s voyeuristic style of filming, it makes the breaking of the forth wall very effective. This is evident in the last scene when Norman Bates looks up to the camera and smiles. All of a sudden, the audience feels as though they are discovered and assumes the victim position. In this sense, Hitchcock is able to play with the audience emotions, thus, able to create suspense and fear effectively. Secondly, the music plays a huge role in creating suspense. The same music was use when she was on the run, and when someone was getting killed. This type of familiar music keeps the film moving with suspense. As the “killing music” plays, the audience connects the particular sound with the killing and it makes the film suspenseful. Furthermore, as Crane converses with Bates, there is no music, which creates a very tense and awkward scene, a way of characterizing both characters. This type of familiar element is also evident with the setting; the audience connects the shot with the detective going up the stairs with Lila going up. This makes it suspenseful as the same thing might happen again.

The film //Psycho// is definitely one of Hitchcock’s unique directing style. Through the use of different cinematic elements, Hitchcock is able to explore themes and create suspense.