Psycho - A turning Point in American movie history

Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1960.

Just right after "North by North West" which had been a great public hit, Hichtcock decided to turn away from glamorous technicolor movies to a black and white suspense story. This movie is a horror movie that will open up the way to slasher films such as "Friday 13" or "Halloween". In this movie - as usual -, Hichtcock plays with us, like a cat with a mouse.

It's A.Hitchcock's 47th movie. At the time he was very popular for his TV shows : Hitchcock Presents, on CBS.

Marion (Vivien Leigh) is a young woman in love with Sam. She is living and Phoenix and would like to marry Sam, a divorced man in debts. She decides to steal money ($40 000) from her employer. On her way to California, she stops at the Bates Motel and she is violently murdered. Then starts another story : Norman Bates' one - anatomy of a serial killer.

The most famous scene is of course the shower one. It took 7 days to film it. It became an iconic one thanks to the soundtrack. Everyone knows that string music from Bernard Herrmann.The film director made many cuts and used a circling camera to disorient us. He used many tricks : extreme close-ups, many short cuts and sound effects to create anxiety. He tells us that the world has changed. That we cannot feel safe anymore. Even at home, when you take a shower, everything can happen. He is not dealing with upper middle-class people anymore but with the majority of the population. Nowadays, it looks like a warning : indeed in the 60s', JFK, MLK or Robert Kennedy were assassinated.  

Norman Bates suffers from schizophrenia. But we discover that at the last moment. Hichtcock says to us that it's not easy to be a human being. That we are trapped in our lives because of our education, our drives (sexual or not)... We are sinners and there's no redemption but death. It's quite a pessimistic story. He will analyse other psychological disorders in the future. For instance : "Marnie".

In this movie we find most of Hitchcock's obessions : voyeurism, dividing personality, almighty mother, money that corrupts, guilt... And we enjoyed that movie very much

Camille Chantoiseau