An Analysis of
Hitchcock’s Techniques in 3 Scenes of Psycho.
The three scenes I have chosen to write about are:-
“A Boy’s Best Friend”
“The Shower”
“The Truth About Mother”
I have chosen these as in my opinion they challenge the
media terminology and get the suspension going.
“A Boy’s Best Friend”
In this scene the Mise-en-scene splits into two pathways
one being Norman Bates’ psychological burden of having his “Mother” living
inside himself and often living outside as well (this is when he dresses up as
his mother) this often occurs when Norman/ Mother murders someone and it’s
always the mother that scolds him. The other is representing Marion Crane
ironically as a “bird” (a slang term for a beautiful woman) and showing her
vulnerability and her innocence (even though she stole the money).
The First Pathway will be Norman Bates’ psychological
burden in his “Mother”. All the Birds that are scattered around the room are
birds of prey; eagle owl, Raven etc. these all represent the murderer inside of
him and also the danger that is about to befall both Norman and Marion. There
is a low tilted shot of Norman’s face with an eagle owl’s wings wide open as if
it should land on him. This could represent the evil that Norman has inside of
him or it could show that it’s always the innocent that have bad things happen
to them. And really Norman is a victim in this crisis as he is a victim of his
own menace. the light that is reflected on the outlining of his face almost
produces a “silver lining” and this could represent the saying “every cloud has
a silver lining” as in there is hope and that there is always some way of
getting out of something. And Marion could’ve been a way to get out of the
psychological damage that has burdened him. Although sadly his mother gets involved
and Marion is murdered. Whilst speaking Norman often stutters this could be a
sign of nervousness around a beautiful woman or it could be the fact that each
time he stutters he is trying to hold in the “mother” from coming out and going
‘Psycho’. This later happens obviously in the shower scene perhaps because of
the fact that Norman gets sexually aroused and Norman is embarrassed that his
“mother” saw this or perhaps because the “mother” is jealous of Norman’s
concentration on Marion and not on the “mother”.
The key line in this pathway of the scene would most
probably be “I don’t hate her; I hate what she’s become. I hate the illness”.
This line is very cleverly put in because substantially it is about Norman
himself and it isn’t until the end of the scene that I soon realised this line
is incredibly important in explaining what Norman feels about himself.
The Second Pathway is representing Marion Crane as a Bird
and not just any bird, a bird that is both being preyed on (by Norman Bates)
and a bird of prey herself. What we have to remember that here in this scene
it’s not Marion that is being portrayed as the villain but it is in fact Norman
Bates. So while Norman has got no lights around him and shadows on his face and
all around (to show a darkness) Marion has got a little lamp on a table beside
her bed to lighten up her face and this is to show that in this scene she is
innocent and pure and that her presence there is angelic and positive towards
Norman who is able to poor his heart out to her almost as if she is a therapist.
And this then comes to the discussion between her and Norman. Notice that it’s
Marion asking all the questions (just like a therapist) and she is also
possibly trying to get the subject off of why was she on her own in a car in
the middle of the night. To support the theory of a therapy session there is a
shot reverse shot between Marion and Norman switching to point of view when
Marion asks a question or when Norman gives a detailed answer.
I think the key quotation to this pathway of the film
would be “why would you ask that?” this is when Norman wants to know if Marion
has run away from anything. And the shadows fall over her face and her
innocence is taken away so quickly. I think Hitchcock intended for this to
happen as he wanted Marion to turn back into the shadows and show the audience
she’s not as nice as she seems.
“The Shower”
The shower scene is probably one of the most important
scene in the film because it’s the first time we get a viewing of “Mrs Bates”
and the murderous side to her in fact.
I have a theory for this scene I think that perhaps the whole
scene is a biblical reference to a baptism, the cleansing away of sins. And
this would make sense as she has just had the chat with Norman and realised
that actually she should take the money back Phoenix, back to its rightful
owner Cassidy. So as she walks into the shower room with it’s white tiles (an
example of an angelic view) to then getting in the shower which has a shot of
Marion’s face looking tired and confused, when finally she turns on the water
and a sigh of relief and a sense of embellishment as the hot water runs down her face and
dampens her hair and cleanses her body. It also includes something called
Generic Expectations, which is the change in the view of the shower head
instead of seeing it from her point of view (ECU POV shot of her looking into
the water whilst washing her face) there is a side on shot of the shower head
which is quite strange and could be a reference to “god” baptising her (an omniscient
narration). Whilst going through the ritual of walking into the shower-room
then getting into the shower and finally turning the shower on all we hear is a
diegetic sound, the slamming of the door, the slash of the curtain, the
crinkling of the soaps wrapping and then the splashing of the water. The length
of this happening is about 53 seconds which is really long without any light
background music or anything like. And for some reason it makes the sudience
more focused and slightly scared when you ask yourself what’s going to happen.
53 seconds without any non-diegtic sounds is very long so once the curtain is
pulled back and the screeching of the violins start (non-diegetic) it almost
makes you jump, not considering the fact that there is a woman’s body with a
shadowed face that makes you wonder what on earth is going on.
We then move onto the stabbing which is pretty sexual for
the era as we see a naked body and awoman’s naked body at that. This is
incredibly teasing for the men. The shower sscene holds a few sexual references
including; the outline of Marion’s Breasts through the shower curtain, her
naked stomach whilst being stabbed and strangely enough the panting of her
whilst she was dying this could represent a stereotypical damsel in distress
and men can identify with Sam Loomis for trying to find Marion as they would
have taking a fancying to her body. Also strangely enough the ECU of Marion’s
hand as it slides down the tiles trying to grab for support is quite sexy with
her perfectly manicured nails it shows her finality of life.
There are quick intercuts to the flesh cutting but we
don’t actually see any broken flesh. The scene would be known as barbaric as
she has finally sorted out her life she has cleansed herself of all sins and is
ready to go back to Phoenix to confess that she did wrong. And then she gets
murdered. When finally after the ninth stabbing she falls half out of the bath
after grabbing the shower curtain this shows that she’s gone as she’s all limp.
The camera then turns to the blood streaming out of the shower and a gradual
ECU of the plug hole and as the shot gets closer the camera twists, then into a
bridging shot of Marion’s eye and as the shot moves away the camera twists
exactly how it did when it went closer to the plug hole.
Marion ends up dead, naked in and out of the bath with the
shower still running which then adds to my theory of a baptism because when you
look at tapestries and old pictures and you see any sort of religious baptism
you can see the baby is naked and hopeless and that is exactly what Marion is
like once she dies, naked and hopeless.
“The Truth About Mother”
This scene gives us the truth about the “Mother” and
Norman. When Lila runs into the cellar trying to hide from Norman, she finds
the back of an old lady whilst running towards the Lady she says “Mrs Bates”
and slowly with violins playing a low tune (non-diegetic) she touches the
shoulder and the chair spins around finally revealing a taxodermically treated
carcass of an old Lady. Lila lets out a shrill scream and knocks the bulb
that’s joined to the ceiling of the cellar. Then in through the door comes
“Mother” (Norman Bates) with a carving knife and following him: Sam Loomis, who
grabs a hold of Norman and wrestles him to the ground whilst the lamp is still
making shadows and light in the room.
When the identity of the Mother is revealed the screeching
Violins start toplay again (non-diegetic) and Lila’s scream adds to the
revoltion. The shadows in the scene of the old lady could mean the second version
of mother which is obviously Norman Bates’ imagination figure. And because that
shadow is larger than the carcass looks it could mean the amount of menace in
psychological mother (Norman Bates) compared to the carcass. The fact that it’s
a cellar adds to the spookiness as the room looks very haunting and disturbing
compared to the shower room in which the room looks slightly angelical.
Although like the shower room the cellar could have a biblical reference. One
would assume that this could be Satin’s Lair/Hell, because the place looks so
haunting and scary. With shadows in every part of the cellar the audience could
be scared of what could be lurking in those shadows perhaps.
When Lila discovered the carcass she had put her hand on
the shoulder, in discuss she had thrown her hand away and in the process
knocked the light which then flung around in a circle causing light and shadows
to be casted this made the whole experience scary for it had casted more
shadows which had added to the biblical theory of Stain’s Lair/Hell as it could
prove the phrase “all hell had been let loose” with the light and shadows
casted the room looked alive as if there were demonic, paranormal activity
going on and it added to the genre of a thriller/horror.
During the point in which Lila had cried out Norman had
charged down the stairs wearing his mothers clothes and a wig carrying a
carving knife and speaking like an old lady although Sam Loomis had caught up
with him and grabbed a hold of him before anything could’ve happened to Lila.
So as far as putting people in catagories Lila was a damsel in distress and Sam
was the Knight in shining armour. It finally concludes with Norman opening his
mouth wide as if he was possessed and the evil spirit had left his body. During
the whole of this the violins are still screeching (non-diegetic) until finally
it is as if whatever Anthony Perkins was trying to portray with an evil spirit
leaving him the violins finally stopped as well. So my theory concludes in this
was the violins supposed to be portrayed as the evil spirits that could be
leaving Norman Bates at the point Sam Loomis had got a hold of him.
I still hold my theory to the fact that the movie may have
had a biblical reference throughout. From the shower scene being a baptism, the
cellar being Satin’s Lair/ Hell and with the non-diegetic screeching violins
being evil spirits.
