"Psycho" is a classic horror thriller by the famous Hollywood "suspense master" Hitchcock. Hitchcock developed in England in the early days and made the first sound film in the United Kingdom. Later, he moved to Hollywood in the United States, integrating his unique understanding of film and the results of his early exploration into the film, and shooting a series of "suspense films" with distinctive features, which provided a model for future film exploration.
"Psychopath" tells the story of Marion, tired of her day-to-day life in Phoenix, and wanting to marry her boyfriend Sam. But Sam rejected her ex-wife because she had to pay high alimony. One day, Marion's boss asked her to deposit 40,000 yuan in the bank. Because she was forced to change her life, she took 40,000 yuan on impulse and went to another city to find Sam to start her life again. On the night of her destination, it suddenly rained heavily, and Marion decided to take a detour and stay in a motel by the side of an abandoned highway. Here, she meets Bates, an affable boss. Bates and his mother jointly run the hotel, but his mother is very eccentric and never goes downstairs or communicates with outsiders. Bates wants to invite Marion over for dinner, but she is scolded by her mother. That night, Marion was killed by his mother in the bathroom. Later, a private detective went to the hotel to investigate Marion's whereabouts, only to be killed by Bates' mother. Marion's family and boyfriend rushed to the hotel to uncover the secret behind it step by step. It turned out that the real murderer was Bates. Bates suffered from severe schizophrenia after his father's death. He killed his mother and stepfather, and also made specimens of his mother's body and stayed by his side every day. He would imitate his mother's words, deeds and tone, often talking to himself. After Bates met Marion, the love in her heart made her "other side" angry and killed her.
This film can be called the pinnacle of Hitchcock horror film production, with a rich "psychoanalytical color", has provided countless psychologists with an excellent example of research. But Hitchcock believed that "a film is a film", and he structured the film from the perspective of "pure film" without any color. Therefore, we deconstruct the film from a cinematic perspective, exploring its unique "narrative structure" and "audio-visual skills".
Hitchcock's Rebellion and Succession of "Closedness"
The glory of Hollywood movies is divided into two periods. The first period is from the beginning of the Great Depression to the end of World War II, also known as the "Old Hollywood Period". This period established the model of almost all classic Hollywood types of films, without exception, the "closedness" of the film was also put forward at this time. However, it only stays on the film shooting skills, such as: the three-shot principle - whoever speaks will give the shot, and the environment at the beginning of the film must be the same environment at the end. In the 1960s, American society was in turmoil, and films that reflected social reality began to appear, which opened the prelude to the "New Hollywood Films", and galloped the world's film and television for more than half a century, and it is still very influential to this day.
As the forerunner of new Hollywood films, Hitchcock injected his own understanding on the basis of the original Hollywood narrative mode. The research on the "closedness" of the film is no longer limited to the external form, but is reflected in the step-by-step preparation and characterization of the details. When the truth is revealed at the end of the film, the echoes before and after are appropriate, making the whole film The film is very compelling in its narrative.
In terms of image building, take the image of "Bates" as an example. He looks bright and handsome, but his speech is vague. When he met Marion, this "ambiguity" was like the performance of a shy boy; When questioning the detective, this "ambiguity" promoted the development of the plot; at the same time, it reflected the inner world of Bates, who has been suppressed for a long time and dared not communicate with outsiders or express himself, which is also a hint of his schizophrenia. portraiture.
In the visual composition, the hotel is a horizontally elongated structure, while Bates's home behind the hotel is a vertical structure. These two different structures are arranged together, implying Bates's two spiritual worlds - the suppression of darkness and the Cheerful sunshine. When Bates killed Marion, wearing her mother's clothes and headpiece, the paranoid side of his character took over him. Later, the detective sneaked into Bates' house for investigation, and also hinted that he had entered a dark abyss, and the final result was also killed. Using visual modeling to structure the film and isolate the two worlds is Hitchcock's genius. The two personalities of a character are completely separated, which makes an extremely subtle foreshadowing for the later truth to be revealed.
In addition, there are many intriguing details about the closed nature. For example, at the hotel, Marion decided to go back and admit her mistake and returned the money in full. She shredded the note after counting the money and threw it into the toilet, and closed it before it was flushed. On the lid. When Bates was cleaning the murder scene, he would definitely not have noticed the closed toilet, which provided a condition for Marion's sister to find clues later.
At the end of this suspense film, Hitchcock arranged for a "sheriff" in the office to reveal all the mysteries for everyone in the way of "character answering" and explain the previous details, such as Marion's Boyfriend said he saw Bates's mother outside the hotel, and people in the town said his mother died many years ago because Bates made her into a taxidermy and kept her at home every day; for example, Bates killed her After that, Marion didn't notice the 40,000 yuan wrapped in newspaper on the table, and threw it into the swamp with the body, because schizophrenic people don't notice the existence of money, which is from the hotel business. It's been bad all the time, but you can tell that Bates never thought to move.
Drive narrative with "audio-visual effects"
Hitchcock made films in Europe in his early years, accumulated a series of art film shooting skills, and formed his own theoretical thinking on film. He called "Psycho" a "pure film", also derived from its shocking acoustics and distinctive visual rhythm. There are also a lot of suspense films and horror films today that use audio-visual effects as gimmicks to attract audiences, but the overall effect is very different. We can analyze the reasons from this "Psychopath":
First of all, Hitchcock uses sound effects to "merge time and space narratives" to make the whole film tight. In the first half of the film, when Marion drove to her boyfriend's city with 40,000 yuan, the sound of the picture was mainly sharp and harsh, giving people a sense of oppression and showing Marion's psychological uneasiness after stealing money. At the same time, he inserted the boss's voice in the office, and angrily denounced Marion as a "thief, a thief". The two voices overlapped each other, pushing the character's panic and anxiety to a climax. If the film, as a visual art, is a flat effect, then the addition of sound provides a 360° environment. This tense and terrifying atmosphere is seamlessly inserted into the audience's ears, allowing the audience to feel the oppression as they are on the scene. At the same time, Hitchcock's use of sound effects to carry out parallel time and space narration seems to be single from the picture, but the overall information and details are very well delivered, which also makes the whole film fast-paced.
Second, Hitchcock's use of sound effects, along with the actors' performances, permeates the entire film. The sound effects of suspense films are often dominated by sharp and tense voices. If they are only used for the climax of the film, "Mary, the Death of the Detective" will be out of touch with the previous plot and appear abrupt. In "Psycho", Marion goes from trying to steal money, encountering a boss on the way, and being assassinated. The sound effects are progressive and the rhythm is getting faster and faster throughout the process. At the same time, when the characters are talking, in order to highlight the content of the conversation, no sound effects are used, but the panicked look of the actors when they face inquiries and questions is also an external manifestation of the psychological state and a continuation of the previous tense atmosphere, making the whole film coherent and smooth.
There are also many classic scenes in this film, such as the classic sequence of "Bathroom Murder". Although it is only 45 seconds, the camera position has changed as many as 78 times, making it one of the most thrilling violent scenes in film history. However, there is no picture of the knife touching the body, let alone the scene of flesh and blood. The information of "murder" is completely conveyed through sound and picture editing. traces".
2019 is Hitchcock's 120th birthday. His thoughts on movies and his grasp of human nature are extremely meticulous. No matter from which angle he interprets his films, he will benefit a lot, which has contributed to Hitchcock becoming the new Hollywood. The founder of the film has left an immortal mark in the history of world film.
View more about Psycho reviews
