psycho (cinema history class)

Session: Bring Your Own Movie Month, week 4
Movie: Psycho (1960)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
As always, there may be spoilers here. And the trailer may be NSFW and/or NSFL

Plot:
A lady on the run gets more than she bargained for when she runs into a troubled motel manager. Hilarity ensues.

Background:
This was Dave's pick, a movie that he says is from his wheelhouse. There was some surprise expressed over the fact that I had never seen this movie before. But, hell, I've never seen Gone with the Wind or Casablanca either. Anyway, Ethan and I were the only regulars who had never seen it. I'm not sure if Fausto, our guest, had ever seen it.

Reaction:
The thing that surprised me most about Psycho was the iconic shower scene. I had always just assumed that it was the climax, coming at the end of a plot starring Janet Leigh. So I was surprised to see that it came maybe a third of the way through, and was kind of a transition point between a preliminary plot (Marion stealing money and running off) and the main plot (Norman trying to hide the nature of his insanity from various investigators).

I was torn about the psychiatrist's exposition at the end. There are a million reasons that it didn't make sense -- a psychiatrist couldn't have figured out all that that quickly, sharing the information with everyone was a violation of medical ethics, etc. etc. Now, I'm used to movies and TV shows working exposition in in unrealistic ways. It's necessary for the storytelling. I get that. But in some ways this seemed anticlimactic. Maybe. I'm still not sure. Joe was definitely sure -- he argues that the exposition itself was as creepy as the rest of the movie. And I will acknowledge that Anthony Perkins' scene after the psychiatrist's monologue was one of cinema's creepiest scenes. So why did they have to follow it up with the shot of the car being pulled from the swamp?

Having said that, I should be clear about the fact that I loved this movie. The only other Hitchcock movies I've seen are The Birds and Vertigo. And while those were good movies, I came away thinking that they're overrated. By comparison, this was great. It featured a captivating story, brilliant acting by Anthony Perkins, and incredible use of shadow and odd camera angles. In short, this was a great movie experience.

I was surprised that Ethan wasn't crazy about it. Everyone else in the room praised the film to the heavens, but Ethan felt that the characters weren't fully-developed -- a flaw he says he sees in other Hitchcock films. I'm not sure I agree, but I am proud that he was willing to say so instead of just going along with the crows.

Ratings:
Me: 9.9
Scott: 10
Sean: no rating -- this film is a classic in a different dimension
Joe:10
Ethan: 4
Fausto: 9
Keith: 10
Christina: 9

Bechdel:
Psycho passes the Bechdel test. barely.

Odd Pittsburgh reference:
As Marion is checking into the motel, Norman tells her to put down her home address. But, he notes, "just the town will do." Dave chimed in with "Pittsburgh."