Ufr angellier close-up on alfred hitchcock

3.The Impact of Psycho on XXI ^st Century Spectators

As already stated, censorship was still very present in the early sixties. As a result, the impact of the film was much more important than it is today. Nowadays, people are used to watching scenes of sexual violence.

Gus Van Sant’s Psycho

In 1998, director Gus Van Sant, who admires Alfred Hitchcock, decided to direct a film, also entitled Psycho, which was the almost exact replica of Hitchcock’s work. It was a stylistic exercise for Van Sant. Indeed, he uses the same shots as in the original film. The main difference between the two films is the fact that Van Sant’s work is in colour and not in black and white. The director also chose to add some shots such as those of clouds when Marion is having her shower. This addition is not surprising because the director always shows clouds in his films; they are his signature. Moreover, in the hotel room, we can hear people having sex in the other bedrooms. Sexuality was much more present in the media at the end of the twentieth century than in the sixties. Furthermore, Sam Loomis is naked in this version, and when Norman watches Marion through the hole in the wall, he masturbates. In the scene where Arbogast is killed, there are two furtive shots (just like the clouds in the shower scene except that they are shorter): the first one is a half-naked woman who wears a mask (once again it is an emphasis on sexuality), and the second one represents a lamb in the middle of a road (this shot is rather gloomy and the presence of the animal may be linked to Norman’s passion for taxidermy). In the scene where Lila looks for information in the Bates house, she discovers a pornographic magazine in Norman’s bedroom. The basement is much gloomier in the second version. It is filled with animals (stuffed or still alive) and Mrs Bates’ body is more frightening. Also, in one the last shots, the dissolve from Norman’s face to his mother’s skull is more visible.

To conclude, Gus Van Sant’s version brings out sexuality and death which are two very important issues in Psycho. This was made possible because the Hays Code had been abandoned as of 1968.

Hitchcock directed by Sacha Gervasi

In 2013, Sacha Gervasi directed a biopic about Alfred Hitchcock which opened to mixed reviews⁴³. The film focuses on Hitchcock’s life at the time he decided to direct Psycho. It is rather hard to discuss the degree of reliability of this film since it is not a documentary; the main elements are true even though, for instance, it is hard to believe that Hitchcock watched his actresses through a hole. The film depicts quite well the obstinacy of the Master of Suspense. Even if he was told by everyone not to direct Psycho because people thought it would be a failure, he did not listen to them and directed it. He also did not hesitate to pay for it since Paramount did not want to finance this ambitious project. Hitchcock is often seen alone in this film, which highlights quite well the fact that nobody believed in his project. Despite some inevitable doubts, the Master was convinced that his film would be a success. The only person who supported him was his wife, Alma Hitchcock, and she probably played a major role in the success of this masterpiece.

In the film, it is also explained that Psycho was shot in a studio and that the director maintained the suspense until the release of his film. All these elements contributed to trigger the spectators’ curiosity, which may explain why the audience was so anxious to go and watch it.

Some cinemas used the release of this film to show Psycho again. The cinema Le Palace, in Cambrai, organised a special evening where the two films could be seen as a double bill⁴⁴. A personal investigation revealed that it appealed to a lot of spectators who were eager to watch Psycho again. This tends to reinforce the fact that, even if Psycho was directed more than fifty years ago, it still appeals to spectators in the twenty-first century. As a modern classic, it also keeps encouraging new academic approaches.

Conclusion

In this close-up on Psycho, we have seen that Hitchcock not only directed his actors, he also directed his spectators. He used cinematic techniques, which usually enable the spectators to have the best vantage point, in order to trick us. For instance, we could think that the addition of the different points of view allows us to know more than the protagonists. And yet, the Master of Suspense manages to deceive us thanks to other cinematic devices, such as overhead shots and also off-screen sounds, costumes, sets and props.

Voyeurism is one of the main themes of Psycho. Norman is a peeping tom; for instance, he takes pleasure in watching Marion. However, he is not the only one to be driven by scopophilia, this is also the case of the audience. Indeed, we are anxious to know more, we want, and even we need, to gaze. It may explain why the end is so disturbing. Norman/Mother is gazing at us for several seconds that seem to last forever, as if he were pointing out the fact that we are voyeurs, as much as he is.

We can also wonder why Hitchcock chose to direct such a film. He probably wanted to do something new, a film that no director would have dared to make. As shown in Sacha Gervasi’s Hitchcock, Alfred Hitchcock chose to make his film even though all his relatives and acquaintances were against the idea. It tells a lot about the director’s personality. Indeed, he wanted to go beyond the conventions and to shock people. The theme of voyeurism was most certainly not chosen at random. Hitchcock apparently chose his actresses for their physical appearance and he was attracted by beautiful women. Yet, nothing has been proved.

A lot of sequels were directed (one of them was made by Anthony Perkins, Psycho’s protagonist) and, even though the theme of voyeurism is also tackled, they fail to be as unsettling as the original film. The plots are rather similar to Hitchcock’s Psycho, which may explain why these films were not as successful as the first one. What makes Psycho a unique masterpiece is its originality and, obviously, Alfred Hitchcock’s touch.

1. Filmography

PRIMARY SOURCE:

Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock, with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, USA, 1960, thriller, 109 min.

SECONDARY SOURCES:

Dans la Maison, François Ozon, with Fabrice Luchini, Ernst Umhauer, Kristin Scott Thomas, France, thriller, 105 min.

Hitchcock, Sacha Gervasi, with Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Scarlett Johansson, USA, 2013, biopic, 98 min.

Lolita, Stanley Kubrick, with James Mason, Sue Lyon, Peter Sellers, United Kingdom, 1962, drama/romance, 152 min.

Peeping Tom, Michael Powell, with Karlheinz Böhm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, United Kingdom, 1960, thriller, 101 min.

Psycho, Gus Van Sant, with Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Julianne Moore, USA, 1998, thriller, 99 min.

Psycho II, Richard Franklin, with Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, Meg Tilly, USA, 1983, thriller, 112 min.

Psycho III, Anthony Perkins, with Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, USA, 1986, thriller, 93 min.

Psycho IV, Mick Garris, with Anthony Perkins, Henry Thomas, Olivia Hussey, USA, 1990, thriller, 96 min.

Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock, with James Stewart, Grace Kelly, USA, 1954, thriller, 112 min.

2. Bibliography

BORDWELL, David, THOMPSON, Kristin, Film Art: an Introduction (1979), Boston, McGraw-Hill, 2004.

DECOBERT, Lydie, L’Escalier dans le cinéma d’Alfred Hitchcock : Une dynamique de l’effroi, Paris, L’Harmatan, 2008.

DOANE, Mary Ann, Femmes fatales: feminism, film theory, psychoanalysis, New York, Routledge, 1991.

DOUCHET, Jean, « Hitch et son public », Cahiers du cinéma n°113, 1960.

DURGNAT, Raymond, A Long Hard Look at ‘Psycho’, London, British Film Institute, 2002.

EASTHOPE, Antony, The Unconscious, London, Routledge, 1999.

JULLIER, Laurent, « Points de vue », in René Gardies (dir.), Comprendre le cinéma et les images, Paris, Armand Colin, 2007.

KROHN, Bill, Alfred Hitchcock, Paris, Cahiers du cinéma, Collection Grands Cinéastes, 2007.

KRUTH, Patricia, « Le spectateur, le monstre et la victime : le point de vue dans Lolita de Stanley Kubrick », in Didier MACHU and Taïna TUHKUNEN, Lolita, Paris, Ellipses, 2009.

KUHN, Annette, The Power of the Image : Essays on Representation an d Sexuality, London, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985.

LACAN, Jacques, Les quatre concepts fondamentaux de la psychanalyse, Paris, Seuil, 1973.

MULVEY, Laura, “Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema”, Screen, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1975, pp. 6-18.

REBELLO, Stephen, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, New York, Dembner Books, 1990.

SHEAHAN WELLS, Amanda, Psycho, Director Alfred Hitchcock, London, York Press, 2001.

SPOTO, Donald, The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, New York, Anchor Books, 1992.

TRUFFAUT, François, Hitchcock, édition définitive, Gallimard, 1993.

3. Websites

Alfred Hitchcock, Hitchcock, la légende du suspense, http://hitchcock.alienor.fr/cinema.html, consulted on the 30^th of January 2013.

AlloCiné, Hitchcock, http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-189691/critiques/presse/, consulted on the 17^th of March 2013.

Ciné-Club, Le Son au Cinéma, http://www.cineclubdecaen.com/analyse/son.htm, consulted on the 11^th of April 2013.

Madinkbeard, Branigan on Point of View, http://madinkbeard.com/archives/branigan-on-point-of-view, consulted on the 22^nd of April 2013.

Stephano, Joseph, Psycho (1960) movie script, http://sfy.ru/?script=psycho, consulted on the 15^th of November 2012.

Télérama, “Hitchcock”, de Sacha Gervasi, petit film sur un grand tournage, http://www.telerama.fr/cinema/hitchcock-de-sacha-gervasi-et-les-autres-films-de-la-semaine,93145.php, consulted on the 18^th of March 2013.

The ‘Grammar’ of Television and Film, Narrative Style, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html, consulted on the 16^th of April 2013.

The Guardian, Secrets of the Psycho shower, http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/mar/29/psycho-body-double-marli-renfro, consulted on the 20^th March 2013.

Université Paris 8, La voix de Gilles Deleuze en ligne, http://www2.univ-paris8.fr/deleuze/article.php3?id_article=92, consulted on the 10^th of April 2013.

Wikipedia, Catharsis, http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catharsis, consulted on the 14^th March 2013.

Wikipedia, Motion Picture Production Code, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Production_Code, consulted on the 18^th of March 2013.

Wikipedia, Objet a, http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objet_a, consulted on the 27^th of December 2012.

Wikipedia, Psycho (film), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_%28film%29, consulted on the 13^th of December 2012.

Wikipedia, Slasher film, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slasher_film#Forerunners, consulted on the 12^th of April 2013.

Appendices

Appendix 1

House by the Railroad (1925)

by Edward Hopper



Appendix 2

Susanna and the Elders

by Willem van Mieris (1662-1747)



Another version of Susanna and the Elders (painted in 1610)

by Artemisia Gentileschi



Appendix 3

Series of photograms reproduced in the booklet accompanying the DVD "PSYCHOSE : La collection Alfred Hitchcock en DVD", p. 13.

Appendix 4

Poster used when the film was released



Appendix 5

Poster used in March 2013 at the cinema Le Palace in Cambrai

1 Wikipedia, Slasher film, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slasher_film#Forerunners.

2 Patricia Kruth, « Le spectateur, le monstre et la victime : le point de vue dans Lolita de Stanley Kubrick », in Didier Machu and Taïna Tuhkunen (dir.), Lolita, roman de Vladimir Nabokov (1955) et film de Stanley Kubrick (1962), pp. 153-170.

3 Laurent Jullier, « Points de vue », in René Gardies (dir.), Comprendre le cinéma et les images, p. 67.

4 David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, Film Art: an Introduction, p. 292.

5 François Truffaut, Hitchcock, p. 226.

6 Donald Spoto, The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, p. 317.

7 Ibid., p. 317.

8 David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, op. cit., p. 85. 

9 See Appendix 1.

10 This is, for instance, discussed by Gilles Deleuze on: Université Paris 8, La voix de Gilles Deleuze en ligne, http://www2.univ-paris8.fr/deleuze/article.php3?id_article=92.

11 In the DVD bonus, Janet Leigh says that it is Anthony Perkins who suggested it would be interesting if Norman was fond of candies.

12 François Truffaut, op. cit., p. 231.

13 Amanda Sheahan Wells, Psycho, Director Alfred Hitchcock, p. 47.

14 François Truffaut, op. cit., pp. 233-235.

15 Ibid., p. 231.

16 Alfred Hitchcock, Hitchcock, la légende du suspense, http://hitchcock.alienor.fr/cinema.html.

17 François Truffaut, op. cit., p. 230.

18 Antony Easthope, The Unconscious, pp. 131-133.

19Annette Kuhn, The Power of the Image: Essays on Representation an d Sexuality, p. 52.

20 Amanda Sheahan Wells, op. cit., p. 52.

21 See Appendix 2.

22 Barbara Creed quoted by Amanda Wells, Psycho, Director Alfred Hitchcock, p. 50.

23 Lydie Decobert, L’Escalier dans le cinéma d’Alfred Hitchcock : Une dynamique de l’effroi, p. 58.

24 Ibid., p. 59.

25 Madinkbeard, Branigan on Point of View, http://madinkbeard.com/archives/branigan-on-point-of-view.

26 Ibid., p. 29.

27 The ‘Grammar’ of Television and Film, Narrative Style, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/gramtv.html.

28 David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, op. cit., pp. 276-277.

29 Jacques Lacan, Les quatre concepts fondamentaux de la psychanalyse, p. 199.

30 ^ Laura Mulvey, “Visual Pleasure and the Narrative Cinema”, Screen, Vol. 16, No. 3, 1975, pp. 6-18.

31 Amanda Sheahan Wells, op. cit., pp. 41-42.

32 Donald Spoto, op. cit., p. 318.

33 Amanda Sheahan Wells, op. cit., p. 42.

34 Ibid., pp. 56-57.

35 Jean Douchet, « Hitch et son public », Cahiers du cinéma n°113 (novembre 1960).

36 Ibid.

37 François Truffaut, op. cit., p. 231.

38 Ibid., pp. 226-227.

39 See Appendix 3.

40 See Appendix 4.

41 Stephen Rebello, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho, p. 81.

42 Amanda Sheahan Wells, op. cit., p. 72.

43 AlloCiné, Hitchcock, http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm-189691/critiques/presse/.

44 See Appendix 5.