Author: Wang Nan
One day in the late spring of 1959, an unexpected confrontation took place in the office of the Paramount Pictures headquarters in Los Angeles. The chairman of the film company, facing a fat bald figure sitting at the end of a long table, said angrily and categorically that the protagonist of his company's film would never be a lunatic dressed in women's clothing and killing people with a knife. This kind of bloody third-rate story is not worthy of the other party's elegant taste. After listening, the figure was silent for a moment, stood up, and said: "Don't worry, Mr. Chairman. I will finance the filming of this movie. It is enough for you to worry about the distribution." Then he left the office.
This bald old man with a big belly is not someone else, it is Alfred Hitchcock. His position in the world of film is just as high as the sky at this time. Whether it is the film critics of the "New York Times" or the French film manual school, they all worshipped at his feet, seeing him as a master who perfectly melted art and popular, suspense and thrills, conspiracy and love, fear and sadness. . "Butterfly Dream", "Beauty Tactics", and "Doctor Edward" are all well-known classics. At this time, Hitchcock is preparing for his 47th film. But his plan surprised the head of the film company. The protagonist of the new film is actually a perverted serial killer. Now we are accustomed to heavy tastes, but in the movies of that era, even the toilet was not allowed to show up, not to mention the generous show that a cross-dressing killer stabbed a naked girl in a bath. Not only the boss of the film company was stunned, but even Stefano, the screenwriter of the "Scary", after reading the original novel, felt that it was just a third-rate stall literature. No one knows why, Hitchcock insisted on making this movie, and even willing to pay for it out of pocket, taking the risk of losing money and fame.
Today we look back and find that "The Terror" can stand alongside "Citizen Kane" and "The Seventh Seal" in the ranks of great movies without any shame. Under its terrifying and bloody appearance, there is a deep understanding of human nature, family and society. The plot of "Horror" is extremely simple. Marion Klein, a young and beautiful white-collar lady (Marion's last name Crane means "Crane", we will call her "Miss Crane" in the following article), stole $40,000 from her company's client and ran away. While fleeing with the money, she stayed at a motel run by a young man, Norman Bates, and was brutally murdered by the latter. Norman then killed the detective who followed, but was captured by Miss Crane's boyfriend Sam and her sister Lila. He hid the body of his deceased mother in his home, and dressed in his mother's clothes to make a murder. These terrifying truths have just been revealed to the world. The psychiatrist also published an explanation at the end of the film, believing that Norman gave birth to a dual personality after killing his mother. However, in this seemingly simple story, Hitchcock uses the figures and lines of the characters and the delicate presentation of the images to hide the exquisite structure surrounded by layers of roses.
1. Money and Steal
This story started when Miss Crane stole forty thousand dollars. Money actually plays a dual role in this movie. It not only promotes the development of the plot of the film, but also points to the truth below the surface. Miss He stole the money and fled with the money. The audience naturally cares about her fate. Her sister hired a detective to investigate her whereabouts, also because of money. Finally, the police have to ask where the money went. However, Hitchcock kept suggesting that money is not the main concern of the characters in the play. Although Miss He stole the money, she still decided to return it. After she was killed, the money in the newspaper was also thrown into the car by Norman and sank with the car to the bottom of the marsh. Therefore, the detective who came to investigate guessed that Norman was bought by Miss Crane and helped her hide, further away from the truth of the matter. This murder has nothing to do with money. Isn’t the money discarded with the newspaper implying that there is often no difference between money and newspapers? They are nothing but thin paper, the most superficial thing in this society, the thing that attracts everyone's attention but has no substantive content. However, detectives and policemen, criminal seekers in society, always hold on to money, understand human nature from the surface of things, and consider problems. Money is the same as social news in newspapers, and you have to use it to see the truth. In order to use it to marry her boyfriend-how could this be the real reason for Miss Crane? If you take the money and run without strategy, you will be found out soon. Miss Crane herself was on the way to escape, thinking of the boss and the client's desperate look, her heart was secretly refreshed, and she smiled triumphantly. This scene further shows that money is definitely not the real reason for her doing this.
Then why did she steal the money? Miss He is actually fluctuating between norms and deviance. At the beginning of the movie, she and her boyfriend are secretly dating in a hotel room, and the two are up and down in bed. But she complained right away that she shouldn't have a private tryst like this, asking for fairness to get married. In the next scene, the boss's rich client stared at Ms. He squintingly, waved 40,000 US dollars at her, nakedly teasing and seducing, but Ms. He did not accept the suggestion. If she makes an appointment with him and then gets the money, she is actually abiding by the "rules." But instead, she chose to run away after stealing the money. From cheating to stealing money, Ms. He has a legitimate purpose-to get married, but she always likes to resort to deviant methods. She wanted to keep the rules and seek excitement. No wonder Hitchcock said she was a typical middle-class lady. A heart wanders on both sides of the boundary, and under the calm and rational appearance, it conceals the desire and passion surging in the heart. This is a true portrayal of ordinary people in modern society.
2. Crime and Punishment
However, Miss He's impulse to deviant has led to a deeper theme. People who first watch this movie often think it has a weird structure. Thirty minutes before the film, it was obviously a story of a female thief stealing money. Later, the plot turned to Norman, the real protagonist. The two stories seem to be inconsistent, but in fact they are only superficial. Throughout the film, the themes of crime, criminal search and punishment are the ubiquitous surveillance and spying on the impulse of transgression. In the end, the deviant impulse and punishment were strangely intertwined in Norman's body, and reached a climax in the "public execution" of Miss Crane.
From the top of the high building, the first shot of the film made a 360-degree rotating panoramic surveillance of Phoenix, and then stared at the window of the room where Miss Crane and her boyfriend had a tryst, and slowly moved to it, from the blinds. Peep in from below. This logic of both monitoring and peeking runs through the first half of the film. Miss Crane encountered a patrolman while escaping. After checking her documents, the person followed for a long time, which made her panic. The sunglasses worn by the police patrol perfectly cover up their gaze, making the audience unclear whether he was suspicious because of Miss He's panic, followed the surveillance secretly, or was just attracted by her beauty and wanted to see her for a while. It wasn't until the police voluntarily left that the audience breathed a sigh of relief with Miss He.
After Miss Crane came to the Bates Hotel, this logic actually continued in Norman's body. The audience saw Norman for the first time, following Miss Crane's gaze, looking at the lonely and gloomy, Edward Hope-style house that stands on the hill behind the hotel. We saw Norman's "mother" in a dress, pacing around the window. In fact, before the murder scene in the bathroom, the camera was constantly monitoring and spying on this lady Crane who likes to deviate. Behind the surveillance, the logic of finding crimes is also the same. From the initial crime of embezzlement, to the crime of stealing money, to the “psychological crime” of young people in the mouth of the “mother”, society is full of the unity of opposites of surveillance and deviance, spying and cover-up. Corresponding to ordinary people's impulse to deviate, society constantly monitors people's behavior and questioning people's crimes. These two aspects go hand in hand. After Miss Crane was killed, the focus of this logic turned to Norman. Compared with thinkers who tend to be one-sided, Hitchcock, the film director, is more objective and balanced. The symbiosis of deviant and criminal pursuit is a common phenomenon in society. The first thirty minutes of "Scary" is just an ordinary crime story. But when Miss Crane's car turned a side road, away from the road where ordinary people walked, and came to the deserted Bates Hotel, this logic was about to undergo a twisted and terrifying change.
Miss Crane had a conversation with Norman, knowing that she was lost, decided to return to Phoenix the next day and surrendered to pay the money. In this conversation, how Norman reveals his heart, and will talk about it later. But for Miss He, it was after talking with Norman that she realized that she didn't have to be like Norman to change her destiny and fell into the "trap in which she was born". At this moment her sanity was restored. Since she jumped into the "trap" of crime and escape, she also has the freedom to leave it. Therefore, Hitchcock refuted Truffaut, thinking that Miss Crane could arouse the sympathy of the audience. Her subsequent bath also had a sense of ritual to wash away the crime. The traditional western views of humanity and morality are still clearly visible in the film. Although people may deviate, they still retain their sense and freedom.
But for this reason, the murder in the bathroom is more tragic. Norman's brazen intrusion and massacre interrupted this ceremony of repentance and cleansing. But this is not an ordinary murder. Norman was actually not the murderer, but his "mother". Wearing a mother's dress already shows this. Afterwards, he found that his hands were stained with blood and screamed. He was horrified by the sight of Miss Crane's body, and it was even more obvious that the murderer was the "mother" rather than Norman. But this does not mean that he did not get satisfaction from the murder. The sharp knife repeatedly stabbed Miss Crane's naked body, which obviously contained the meaning of rape. As soon as Norman comes out, he has the dual identities of "mother" and himself, and the two personalities take turns to dominate him. "Mother" yelled upstairs, accusing him of being shameless and wanting to have dinner with a strange woman. So Norman could only peep through the small hole in the wall, peeping at Miss Crane who was changing clothes, so as to satisfy his suppressed desire. In Norman, surveillance and deviant coexist in two personalities. He wanted to pluck up the courage to go upstairs to resist the "mother", but in the end he still succumbed to the "mother". As a result, the "mother" changed costumes to appear on the scene, "punished" the strange woman, and punished her for the crime of seducing her son. Norman, living in the subconscious mind, went into the bathroom openly from the voyeuristic dark place, and attacked Miss Crane with a sharp blade. In this scene, Hitchcock geniusly combines surveillance and deviance, punishment and brutality, and guilt and crime. Norman's perverted and distorted mind completely lost his reasonable consciousness and judgment on crime and punishment.
The "mother" delusional incriminating logic and false surface consciousness merged with the violent desire hidden in his heart. The story of Norman killing Miss Crane is a metaphor for the crisis of modern society: true reason and conscience are destroyed by extremely distorted justice and violence.
3. Mother and Child
The title Psycho of "The Terror" is derived from the Greek language, which originally meant heart and soul. It is Hitchcock's original intention to think and understand people's hearts, rather than label Norman as a "mental patient". At the end of the film, the triumphant, long-speaking psychiatrist seems to be answering questions for the audience, but it makes people see more flaws. If in the end the personality of the "mother" completely occupied Norman's body and mind, how can we be sure that "she" confided the truth to the experts? Since he has not talked to Norman himself, how can he be conclusive, claiming that Norman made his mother his own personality in order to dispel the guilt of mother-killing? This expert is actually more like a scholar who talks about theories. Seeing that the reality is somewhat similar, he is anxious to apply his own theory. Therefore, to understand the root of Norman's perverted psychology, we must get rid of his superficial explanation, and truly walk into the inner world of the character.
Since Norman's dual personality includes "mother" and "himself", let us understand "mother" first. In Norman's life, his mother has always been in a position of surveillance and control. Her room is on the second floor of the house, overlooking the entire hotel from the window. Even though Norman is an adult and his real mother is dead, the mother who lives in his heart still strictly restricts his every move. She did not allow Norman and Miss Crane to have dinner, and denounced her son for being vulgar, let alone "personally" killing Miss Crane. In the conversation with Miss Crane, Norman told the truth that his mother completely controlled his life: Miss Crane: Do you feel empty?
Norman: No. I run this hotel, clean the rooms and the yard, and do something for my mother that she wants me to do, and I can do it too. Miss Crane: Are you going out with your friends?
Norman: Well... the boy's best friend is his mother.
Therefore, Sam suspects that he embezzled forty thousand dollars in order to leave the hotel to make a living, which is entirely the speculation of a mature man. Norman has become accustomed to obeying and relying on his mother, even if she abuses authority and interferes everywhere. This is the fundamental reason why he preserved his mother's body and even made part of himself a "mother". In the last scene of the movie, the mother's surveillance and control are embodied in a creepy manner: Norman's body and mind have been completely occupied by the "mother", "she" is sitting in the prison room, and the monitor becomes the subject of surveillance. . But she tried to get rid of the identity of the perpetrator. She sat there quietly, and blamed all the blame on her son. She condemned her son for killing herself and her lover, and was unwilling to admit the truth about her murder and suicide. She stared at us coldly, motionless. She looked at each other with the surveillance camera, unifying the surveillance and the surveillance. She became a watcher again, and became one with this watched world.
Why does "mother" become like this? Ms. Crane’s sister, Lila, is an important clue to understanding "mother". In the film, the person closest to "mother" is Lila. Lila is also a single mother, living alone with her children. She offered to pretend to be a husband and wife with Sam to investigate, and her enthusiastic attitude towards the latter all hinted at her impulse to get married. This is also similar to the situation where the "mother" desires to remarry after being widowed. Understanding this, we will not wonder why Hitchcock asked her to see through the truth about "mother". Following Lila's footsteps, we entered the room of "Mother" and Norman, learned about their lives, and finally found "Mother" in the basement. There is a scene in the film that clearly suggests to us the similarity between Lila and "Mother". In the Victorian-style room of "Mother", Lila stood in front of the vanity mirror and looked at her, but was startled by the reflection of her back. Lila, who is looking for "mother", sees herself.
After the detective was killed, Lila and Sam went to the hotel to investigate, but found nothing for the first time and did not see Norman. They immediately visited the local sheriff to inquire about the hotel and Norman's foundation. Truffau once complained that the two dialogue scenes here were too plain and slowed down the pace of the film. But he didn't pay attention. The protagonists in these two scenes were both "couples": the "couple" played by Lila and Sam asked the sheriff and his wife about the situation. Two normal "couples" are investigating abnormal "mother and child". "Mother" failed to re-establish a family after the death of her husband, which is the key to understanding Norman's perversion. Under the strict control and restraint of his mother, Norman waited and cleaned the hotel that no one cares about day after day. He has no friends, "the best friend is his mother". The abandoned cars and train toys in his room imply that he never left home to travel.
"Mother"'s attitude towards him having dinner with Miss He shows that it is impossible for him to associate with any opposite sex. Even so, his mother still thinks that he "has been bad" and incorrigible, and even "should have abandoned him long ago."
The really perverted person is actually Norman's mother. Her husband died when Norman was five years old, and the property left to her prevented her from having to work. Since then, all her attention has been devoted to disciplining her son. She didn't let him leave her field of vision for half a step, and she didn't let him go out to do things or interact with anyone. Only Norman is left in her world. In the name of love, she watches him all the time, completely possesses and dominates him. After her death, Norman couldn't get rid of her mother's control and lived a life that truly belonged to her. The extreme surveillance and control made him highly obedient, treating his mother's thoughts as his own, while suppressing his desires and will. Before killing Miss Crane, he also thought about going upstairs and resisting "Mother". But in the end he succumbed and became a puppet of the ghost, and got a little distorted satisfaction in a false "execution".
However, there is still a need to walk deep into Norman's heart. Under the complete control of the "mother",
Norman actually never grew up. Although he has the body and desires of an adult, he is entirely a child in his heart. His psychology and personality have not really matured. Anthony Perkins, the actor of Norman, understands the role. He suggested to Hitchcock that in some sessions, Norman would just chew candy, and Hitchcock readily agreed. When he first met Miss Crane, he was a shy, enthusiastic big boy who stuttered slightly. In his own consciousness, it was the "mother" who killed Miss He. After discovering the body in horror, he just silently cleaned up the aftermath, doing "what my mother asked me to do, and I can do it" to cover up the traces of the "mother".
But even as a child, he is not a puppet who only knows to obey. The real Norman,
Also has his own reason and emotion. When having dinner with Miss He, he revealed his heart to the latter: Miss He: Why don't you leave?
Norman: Go to a private island like you?
Miss Crane: No, not like me.
Norman: I can't do that. Who will take care of her? She was so lonely upstairs that the fire in the fireplace would go out. It will be damp and cold here, like a tomb. When you love someone, you won't treat her like that, even if you hate her, you won't be like that. You understand, I don't hate her. What I hate is just what she becomes. What I hate is her illness.
We always love to say that parents have dedicated everything for their children. But the truth is that children often abandon themselves in order to satisfy their parents' wishes. On the surface, the "mother" is for her son, but she only lives in her own subjective world. Norman really gave everything for his mother. He is fully aware of his mother's problem, and he also knows that he can leave. But he loved his mother and couldn't bear to abandon her. In this loveless world full of surveillance and control, there is only this child, who never let go of the moment he wants to shake off his hand, and is always with his mother. He knew that although his mother regarded herself as a bad child, she had nothing but herself. Even if his mother was "ill", he did not want to send her to a mental hospital. He knew that the "place to study you with cold eyes" actually had the same illness as his mother. In Norman's heart, the mother who truly loved him has never disappeared. She only fell into madness occasionally and was no longer herself, but he believed that the gentle and loving mother would always be there and would return after all. In order to keep the "mother" in this world, he even let himself disappear at all costs.
At the end of the film, Norman was swallowed by his "mother". In reality, some children have successfully killed their mothers. However, no matter which party is eliminated, it does not mean that the other party has won. Because there is no child without a mother, and there is no mother without a child. In this world full of power, constant monitoring and control, and resistance struggles, people often forget their human relationships and hurt themselves and their loved ones mercilessly. The tragedy of "Horror" lies in the destruction of love. Hitchcock used this seemingly bloody and violent story to warn people of horror. It reminds us whether we regard control as love, whether others have given us selfless love, tolerance and understanding, but we turn a blind eye, put on clothes knitted with fantasy, indulge in excitement and desire, and wave to others The sharp knife in my heart.
Wang Nan. The crying murderous heart——Analysis of Hitchcock's movie "The Terror"[J].书,2020(02)135-143.
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