Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Movie Analysis: Psycho (1960 film)
The movie's most relevant cast for this discussion includes Norman, Norman's mother (Mrs. Bates), and Marion. After the death of his dad, Norman becomes entirely dependent on the love, attention, and support of his mother. It is for this reason that when she (Norman's mother) takes in a lover, Norman feels as if he is no longer a priority in his mother's life -- he feels as if he has been replaced. Apparently, he can't stand sharing her and as a result of his intense jealousy, he ends up killing not only his mother's lover but also his mother, through poisoning. However, he elects to preserve the corpse instead of having it buried -- in what could be seen as an attempt to perpetuate the illusion that his mother is not dead but is, instead, still alive. As a consequence, he begins to not only speak,...
He develops a split personality; whereby at times, he is Norman, and at other times, he assumes the identity of Mrs. Bates (Norman's mother).
As it is finally revealed later on in the movie, it was indeed 'Norman's Mother' (Norman's other persona) that murders Marion. Prior to her death, Norman's attachment to his mother makes him pathologically jealous when another man enters the fray. After killing his mother and developing another persona -- that of his mother, Norman is convinced that his 'jealous' mother wouldn't allow him to be attracted to some other woman. It is for this reason that 'Norman's Mother' kills Marion. On waking up, Norman finds his 'Mother's mess and cleans it.
A number of serial killers have in the past, according to Jenkins, "claimed to be in dissociative states at the time of committing their crimes…" (129). In real life, serial killers who have either made use of multiple personalities as…
Works Cited
Hickey, Erick W. Serial Murderers and their Victims. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Jenkins, Philip. Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2009. Print.
In conclusion, costumes are used in two essential ways in the film. The first is that it reinforces the sense of normalcy and creates a background that juxtaposes and heightens the horror and drama of the film. The second use of costume in the way that Bates dresses as his mother is a complete transgression of normalcy and psychologically and socially diametrically opposed to the mundane costumes worn by the
Psycho Alfred Hitchcok's Psycho was released in 1960, and encapsulates the social, psychological, and political tensions of the Cold War era. As Raubicheck and Serebnick point out, Psycho could have been a bridge to the 1960s but the film is "less linked to and reflective of the so-called radical sixties than they are of the more controlled fifties and possess more cultural texture of this earlier era," (17). The issues related
Psycho is a 1960 horror-thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock that follows the demise of Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, at the hands of Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins, after she embezzles $40,000 and attempts to leave her former life behind (Psycho). Through the unique use of editing techniques and ominous cinematography, Hitchcock is able to create a film that is visually alluring and draws its audience into
45). There are also important racial issues that are examined throughout "A Touch of Evil"; these are accomplished through what Nerrico (1992) terms "visual representations of 'indeterminate' spaces, both physical and corporeal"; the "bordertown and the half-breed, la frontera y el mestizo: a space and a subject whose identities are not fractured but fracture itself, where hyphens, bridges, border stations, and schizophrenia are the rule rather than the exception" (Nericcio,
movie industry in America has been controlled by some of the monolithic companies which not only provided a place for making the movies, but also made the movies themselves and then distributed it throughout the entire country. These are movie companies and their entire image revolved around the number of participants of their films. People who wanted to see the movies being made had to go to the "studios"
The use of this shot can be seen in the sequence where Marsellus gets run over by Butch and later when Butch is beating up one of the pawn shop owners. Tarantino is also known to use a long shot in his films. The use of a long shot can be seen shortly after the film's introduction as Vince and Jules discuss the differences between the United States and