Psycho
Although this was my first time watching Psycho, I was familiar with the soundtrack before viewing having played the score in an orchestra. Bernard Herrmann did a fantastic job composing the main theme, which features violins repeating a high pitched screech. This serves to simulate the repeated stabbing motion Norman Bates uses to kill his victims. Usually in a film you can somewhat predict what will happen if you interpret the music correctly. The interesting thing is that right before Marion is murdered, there is absolutely no music. Only when Norman goes for the kill, does the classic screeching violins kick in. This lack of music adds to the tension in this scene, which is very well done within this film.
Anthony Perkins did a fantastic job as Norman Bates. The minute he was introduced on screen, his presence made me feel uneasy. The way he talks and interacts with Marion was extremely creepy, and I instantly knew that something was wrong with him, but I couldn’t quite place it at first. As the plot unfolded, it became clear that he was a psychotic murderer, but his first impression was well done.
The plot twist that Norman’s mother was actually dead was very surprising to me, as I completely expected her to be still alive. It explains why his hobby is taxidermy though, as he was preserving her body. I was curious why the film never showed Norma’s face, as it was either from a weird angle or blacked out. Hitchcock throws the curve ball in that it’s actually just Norman dressing as his mother and he has some sort of split personality disorder, making him a “psycho”.
Despite the obvious age of the cheesy murder scenes, they were quite groundbreaking and controversial for Hitchcock’s time. He was establishing the genre during an era where showing a brutal murder on screen was still considered very taboo. He used clever film angles where you never quite see the knife puncture skin, but blood and horrific screams are present.
One thing I noticed is that the license plate of the car Marion buys reads NFB-418. Is there any significance to this plate? NFB could possibly be Norman’s initials, but I'm not sure what the possible significance of 418 could be. Maybe I'm reading to deeply into this, but it was centered in the shot when the car was lowered into the swamp. Overall, I enjoyed the film, and it was refreshing to view a mystery with closure.
I'm impressed with your knowledge of the soundtrack, that's very cool! I never even noticed the lack of music when Marion was murdered, good listening! I could definitely tell Norman was psycho, but then he kept describing his ill mother so I began to think she was the psycho described in the title (plus she murdered Marion), but then Hitchcock makes known that they're both psycho because they're the same person.
ReplyDeleteI loved your analysis on the soundtrack. It makes sense that the music would mimic the motion that Norman uses to kill his victims. I also like how you mentioned the license plate. I do not know if it means anything, but I like how you paid close attention even to the small details. Directors always put things in movies for a reason, so I think it is entirely possible that the license plate has a hidden meaning.
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