Duality In Psycho
Psycho
Psycho is a 1960 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and John Gavin. The film is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The main theme that Hitchcock tries to express to the audience is dual or split personalities. Everyone has a subconscious battle with good and evil; he shows this in many different ways using lighting, different camera techniques, mise-en-scene and silence. Also he used a string orchestra to add tension and drama as well as setting the tone for impending violence.
The movie starts with Marion Crane and her boyfriend Sam Loomis in an intimate scene, before she has to go back to work. When she returns to work she is instructed to bank $40000 …show more content…
This can be seen in the opening scene where the camera positions the viewer as a voyeur witnessing an illicit affair between Marion who is in her lunch break and Sam who is a divorcee. In the 1950’s this was seen as pushing the limits of what is socially and morally acceptable. The shower scene also uses an extreme close up of Marion eye which shows her guilt as well as her innocence. Her open eye suggests she didn’t deserve to be killed by Norman but also by dying she has been punished for letting her evil side take over and stealing the money. (Quality Teacher Program,2002, p.29)
Hitchcock achieved his goal with Psycho by portraying his main theme of duality in human nature. He made the theme obvious to the audience and reinforced it in many different ways using a large range of techniques including camera angle and position, lighting, sound and mise-en-scene. From the thrilling and somewhat haunting music in the opening credits right up until the final scene where Marion’s car is pulled from the swamp the theme is very effective in a way that keeps the audience thinking long after the film is
Psycho is a 1960 horror film directed by Alfred Hitchcock starring Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles and John Gavin. The film is based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The main theme that Hitchcock tries to express to the audience is dual or split personalities. Everyone has a subconscious battle with good and evil; he shows this in many different ways using lighting, different camera techniques, mise-en-scene and silence. Also he used a string orchestra to add tension and drama as well as setting the tone for impending violence.
The movie starts with Marion Crane and her boyfriend Sam Loomis in an intimate scene, before she has to go back to work. When she returns to work she is instructed to bank $40000 …show more content…
This can be seen in the opening scene where the camera positions the viewer as a voyeur witnessing an illicit affair between Marion who is in her lunch break and Sam who is a divorcee. In the 1950’s this was seen as pushing the limits of what is socially and morally acceptable. The shower scene also uses an extreme close up of Marion eye which shows her guilt as well as her innocence. Her open eye suggests she didn’t deserve to be killed by Norman but also by dying she has been punished for letting her evil side take over and stealing the money. (Quality Teacher Program,2002, p.29)
Hitchcock achieved his goal with Psycho by portraying his main theme of duality in human nature. He made the theme obvious to the audience and reinforced it in many different ways using a large range of techniques including camera angle and position, lighting, sound and mise-en-scene. From the thrilling and somewhat haunting music in the opening credits right up until the final scene where Marion’s car is pulled from the swamp the theme is very effective in a way that keeps the audience thinking long after the film is