Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho :: Film Films Movie Movies Psycho Essays

Alfred Hitchcocks PsychoAlfred Hitchcocks Psycho has been commended for forming thearchetypical basis of all horror films that followed its 1960 release. The massappeal that Psycho has maintained for everywhere three decades can undoubtedly beattributed to its universality. In Psycho, Hitchcock allows the audience tobecome a subjective character within the plot to enhance the filmspsychological cause for an audience that is forced to recognise its featureneurosis and psychological inadequacies as it is compelled to identify, forvarying lengths of time, with the contrasting personalities of the films maincharacters. Hitchcock evinces an intensifying theme in Psycho, that bases itselfon the unadulterated subconscious battle between good and evil that exists ineveryone through the audiences subjective participation and implicit characterparallels.Psycho begins with a view of a city that is arbitrarily identified alongwith an exact date and time. The camera, seemingly at random, cho oses initiatory oneof the many buildings and then one of the many windows to research before theaudience is introduced to Marion and Sam. Hitchcocks use of random selection progress tos a sense of normalcy for the audience. The fact that the city and roomwere arbitrarily identified impresses upon the audience that their own livescould randomly be applied to the events that are about to follow.In the opening sequence of Psycho, Hitchcock succeeds in capturing theaudiences initial senses of awareness and suspicion while allowing it toidentify with Marions mazed situation. The audiences sympathy toward Marionis heightened with the introduction of Cassidy whose crude boasting encouragesthe audiences dislike of his character. Cassidys blatant statement that allunhappiness can be bought away with money, provokes the audience to form ajustification for Marions theft of his forty thousand dollars. As Marion beginsher journey, the audience is drawn farther into the depths of what isdistur bingly abnormal behaviour although it is compelled to identify andsympathize with her actions.It is with Marions character that Hitchcock first introduces the notionof a split personality to the audience. Throughout the first part of the film,Marions reflection is often noted in several mirrors and windows. Hitchcock istherefore able to create a voyeuristic sensation within the audience as it canvisualise the effects of any situation through Marions conscious mind. In the railroad car dealership, for example, Marion enters the secluded bathroom in order tohave privacy while counting her money. Hitchcock, however, with upper cameraangles and the convenient placing of a mirror is able to convey the sense of anever lingering conscious mind that makes privacy impossible. Hitchcock brings