Psycho

Psycho is a 1960 psychological thriller which is about the character Marion Crane played by Janet Leigh.  She is a secretary of her boss from a bank. She steals $40,000 from her boss's client. She runs away into a remote motel  run by a young man who is dominated by his mother.


Why is it a thriller? 
It has all the element in the film that is need in a thriller. Which are suspense, tension and red herrings. It keeps the audience intrigued in the film. However Psycho does not have a clear protagonist from the start as the main character Marion Crane seems innocent but the ends up stealing the £40,000. This then confuses the audience as she is now portrayed as the villain.





Key Scene of tension: 

The bathroom scene- This particular scene in psycho is the most iconic scenes in the history of film industry. This is because it was so gruesome and gory. No-one bas attempted such violent scene. In this scene she's taking a shower and thats when a shadow appears behind the curtains which instantly catches the audiences eye, engaging them onto the scene as they want to know who that is. As the shadow appears the non-diegetic music starts, as he goes further onto stabbing and cutting her, the music increases in a screeching sound, very disturbing. This music increase the tension a lot more.

Lila (Marion's Sister) enters the house- As she walks towards the house tension increases as the non diegetic sound comes on, to indicate something will go wrong. Once she enters its absolute silence, suspense increased as its a sign of danger, and this place isn't safe. She then goes in further, only to find out the mother doesn't exist, and that Norman was lying all this time. Tension is raised as it questions Anthony as he doesn't seem to look right. Soon we see his mother dead in the basement, and Lila screams as her body has now decayed to be a skeleton. This increases tension as we realize how dangerous Anthony is that he has kept his mother dead in basement for years.

McGuffin: 

The McGuffin was the money, when Marion stole the money from the bank and went away with it, this drove the plot forward at first but then was forgotten about when Anthony came in the scene. The actual film was about Anthony secret of having the split personality.

Red herring: 
The money was the red herring as the audience was made to believe the film is got to do with her taking the money and how she would be caught, as a police officer had an eye on her too. By this Hitchcock was fooling the audience when really it had nothing to do with the money.

Media theory that applies to Psycho: 

Classic Hollywood Narratives: The 3 Act Structure-
Problem introduced early in the film= At first it was about the money being the problem but later that was changed, when in fact it was Marion's life being endangered due to Anthony.
Characters work on the problem= Marion's Sister, Lila goes to investigate only to found out that Anthony had killed his own mother and so it capable of anything.
End, problem solved= They mange to catch Anthony and lock him up for good.

Todorov 5 stages: 

1. A state of equilibrium- Everything is at it should be, marion is fine working in her bank and everyones happy.
2. A disruption of that order by an event- When she decides to take the money, and ending up in a dodgy hotel, where the owner is not to be trusted
3. A recognition of that disorder- her sister realizes somethings wrong, and so goes to investigate.
4. A return or restoration of  NEW equilibrium- Anthony is caught, the truth comes out about his personality and he is locked up for good. Everyone else is safe, Lila carry's on with her life. Marion is unfortunately not part of her life anymore.

Laura Mulvey's Theory:

Her theory of the  male gaze was present in Psycho, as Marion was the exotic desire for male, from the beginning, she was shown wearing bra, which is very revealing attracting the male audience as she is displayed as 'sexy'.  The bathroom scene, where she was taking a shower showed her a 'visual pleasure'. However she wasn't the typical passive role which many women play, she actually drove the plot forward, she was the main character, so this shows women can be the exotic desire but however can also take the main lead.