We All Go A Little Mad Sometimes

Halloween Countdown: #3 Psycho

One word: Classic. This film really does have everything; intriguing story, wonderful score and one of the most iconic scenes in movie history. Psycho (1960) is simply a fantastic film that seems to get better with every watch.

So why have I ranked it at No.3 rather than No.1? Argh, that's tricky to answer. Psycho, along with my numbers 1&2, was part of my introduction to scary movies. I have a fondness for it that I don't have with a lot of the other films. It does really tick a lot of boxes for me, but the other two films in my countdown are just that little bit closer to my heart than this. This isn't to say that Psycho isn't a brilliant film, because it is; it's probably my favourite Hitchcock film, next to The Birds. 

Once again, it's my duty to say:  

 Ok, let's move on!

The plot of Psycho is very intriguing as it changes direction mid-film. We're led to believe that Marion (Janet Leigh) is going to be the main character who's story (stealing $40 000 from her boss in order to pursue a life with boyfriend Sam) we're going to follow, but she's not. Marion is killed off pretty early on in that infamous shower scene and the story takes a whole different path; one that's not fully explained until the very end of the film. This occurence is calld a MacGuffin. Wiki explains: Usually the MacGuffin is the central focus of the film in the first act and then declines in importance as the struggles and motivations of characters play out. This defines Marion's role perfectly. The film isn't about her, she's just the catalyst that sets everything into motion.  

Psycho's main character is actually Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), the mild mannered motel owner. I think Anthony Perkins really steals the show in this film due to Norman being so multifaceted (literally!). Perkins really does seem to capture every aspect of him and he makes such an intriguing watch. Initially, Norman appears to be exceptionally well mannered and very hospitable. When Marion arrives at his motel on a very rainy night, Norman seems to be falling over himself to accommodate her. He's extremely friendly and wastes no time in settling her into her motel room; even inviting her up to his house for something to eat after she decides against driving back out in the pouring rain to the nearest diner. It's clear that Norman has taken a shine to Marion already and is relishing the opportunity to spend time alone with her (there are no other guests at the motel). At this point, Norman comes across as a generally nice guy; which makes the snippet we hear of the life he's (presumably) living, quite tragic.

The conversation between Marion and Norman, in his parlour, is quite pivotal in the grand scheme of things. It is here that we get an insight into Norman's background and character. It turns out that his life revolves around his sick, housebound mother, with a small portion devoted to running the motel. At the most, Norman has a taxidermy hobby, although he admits that it's more of a time filler than a time killer. Marion probes him, curious to know whether there's anything beyond his mother and the motel, but there isn't. This exchange sums it up:

Marion: Do you go out with friends?

Norman: Well, a boy's best friend is his mother 

Norman's relationship with his mother is then explored in a little more detail. We'd already overheard an argument between the two while Norman had gone to prepare the upper. His mother voiced a strong objection to him bringing Marion up to the house and ridiculed him for an ulterior motive. Marion comments about the vicious way Norman's mother had spoken to him and the conversation turns to their life together. Norman explains that his mother was left to raise Norman by herself after his father had died, inferring that it was a struggle. He then goes on to say that his mother eventually met a new man who "talked her into building this motel", however he died too and it was too much for his mother to cope with. This threw Norman into the role of permanent carer and he admits how sometimes he wishes he could leave his mother and remove himself from the suffocating relationship. Marion then clumsily suggests putting the mother "someplace", but Norman knows exactly what she's saying and the first flash of the 'Psycho' within is evident. Norman's entire demeanor changes in an instant and he becomes angry, defensive and slightly crazed. He berates Marion for the suggestion of putting his mother into "a madhouse"

Norman: Have you ever seen the inside of one of those places? The laughing and the tears! And the cruel eyes studying you. My mother there?

Marion is suitably unnerved by Norman's sudden rage and tries her best to defuse the conversation by stating that she "meant well". Norman gives a bitter retort, but eventually calms down and admits that he's had similar thoughts. He still excuses his mother's behaviour though with one of the film's well known lines:

Norman: It's not as if she's a maniac, a raving thing. She just goes a little mad sometimes. We all go a little mad sometimes 

This line finally shakes Marion out of her own (temporary) insanity of stealing her boss's money and she makes a decision to go back home to try and pull herself out of her own "private trap"  while she still can. Unfortunately for her, she never gets the opportunity to do this as she is murdered shortly after this conversation with Norman.

As Marion bids Norman goodnight, we get to see yet another side to his character: Norman the Pervert. It was clear as soon as he met her, that Norman was attracted to Marion. He was desperate to please her and stressed his desire to be on first name term with her. However, after their supper conversation, Norman's interest in her is taken into sinister territory as he reveals a spyhole in the wall (hidden by a picture) that gives him a direct look into Marion's motel room. He watches her intently as she walks around the room in her underwear. The expression on Norman's face suggests he knows what he's doing is wrong, but his continual isolation from the outside world is driving this behaviour. However, being a peeping Tom is the least of Norman's problems after the shower scene.

You don't have to have seen the film in order to be familiar with the shower scene. It's held up as one of the most iconic scenes in film history. Just like Jaws stopped people going into the water, Psycho created a fear in people over getting in the shower! The scene itself, although short, is very well done. The trick here is that the camera never actually shows anything explicit; the murder is shown in short, sharp shots and is over before you know and the assumed killer is only seen in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot. The terror is generated by 1) The unpredictability of the murder and 2) The music accompanying it. Kudos to composer Bernard Herrmann as he definitely made Psycho's score memorable. As soon as the shower curtain is yanked back, the piercing sound of the violins kick in and the adrenaline starts rushing. 

In the aftermath of the murder, all signs point to Norman's mother being responsible. Norman is visibly shaken when confronted with the murder scene, but his subsequent actions once again show another layer to him. He  tries his best to cover up the murder in order to protect his mother, or rather that's what we're led to believe when watching Norman being a "dutiful son". So he dumps Marion and everything connected with her into the nearby swamp, never to be seen again. Of course, Marion's disappearance doesn't go away and soon Norman's drawn back into the situation when Private Investigator Arbogast manages to trace Marion's movements to the motel. 

The conversation between Norman and Arbogast seals both their fates, albeit in different ways. Arbogast gets more than he bargained for when he pushes too far in his investigation and his demise at the hands of Norman's mother just makes Marion's loved ones (sister Lila and boyfriend Sam) all the more determined to discover what Norman is hiding. Norman had fobbed Arbogast off with a half truths about Marion turning up at the motel and then leaving the next morning, however Arbogast can see there's more to Norman's story and continues to probe him for information he's reluctant to give. Arbogast's interrogation of Norman, although gentle, is enough to unnerve Norman and he becomes anxious, stuttering a lot and generally coming across as very unconvincing in his story. However, once Arbogast touches on the subject of his mother, Norman becomes defensive again and  firmly denies Arbogast access to question her. Arbogast realises that he's "got all there is to get" but his dsire to join the dots leads him to secretly returning to the Bates' house in ordere to swerve Norman and find out key information from his mother. Unfortunately, he becomes another victim as he's caught by surprise when Mrs Bates emerges from her room brandishing a knife. Once again, it's back to the swamp for Norman to dump body No.2.

Arbogast's sudden disappearance, along with Marion's, just spurs Lila and Sam on. They visit Sheriff Chambers to see if he can help them track down Arbogast. They mention Norman and Marion's disappearance, so the Sheriff calls Norman. Norman spins the same yarnn to the Sheriff about Marion turning up and leaving, also claiming that Arbogast turned up, did his questioning and left too. Sam and Lila know there's something not right with Norman's claims so they question the Sheriff about Norman's ill mother who Arbogast had previously referred to. And so comes a key bit of information: Norman's mother has been dead for 10 years. She apparently murdered her new partner and then killed herself, leaving Norman to discover them dead together. Lila and Sam are left in disbelief as they stress that Arbogast had seen the shadow of an old women in the Bates' window, with even Norman himself continually referring to his mother. The Sheriff is obviously puzzled, so decides to visit Norman himself the following day (off-screen). In the meantime, Norman senses the net may be closing in and decides to confine his mother within the fruit cellar in order to keep her hidden from anybody else.

By this point, it's safe to assume what the reality of the situation between Norman and his mother is; Mrs Bates is never properly seen, only heard and Norman is determined to keep her shielded from the outside world. Something clearly isn't right and this is finally fully exposed during the climax of the film. Sam and Lila, still unsatisfied with the response from Norman, decide to visit the motel themselves to personally investigate. Norman's attitude when he meets them is a far cry from the super nice 'n' friendly persona that Marion saw. Norman is very casual and laid back, with a small degree of cockiness. He blatantly doesn't believe Sam and Lila are husband and wife en route to a business trip, but goes with anyway. The scene between the three seems to have an unintentional comical air to it as Sam's attempt to be covert is frankly laughable. He is way too intense and his suspicion of Norman is evident. This carries on when he later distracts Norman with a talk while Lila makes her way to the house to confront Mrs Bates. Sam is just terrible at playing it cool and he gets Norman's back up rather fast.  As Norman becomes increasingly nervous, Sam ditches the act and confronts Norman with his suspicions, stating that him and Lila are going to get the full story from his mother. Norman flies into a panic and, after knocking Sam out, tears back to the house in order to stop Lila finding his mother.

Lila manages to see Norman frantically returning and hides herself under the stairs. As Norman races up them, Lila notices the door to the cellar and decides to go through it. As Lila makes her way through the cellar, she eventually fins Mrs Bates; and in another classic Psycho moment, Mrs Bates is reveled to be a skeleton and the mobile Mrs Bates we've seen is actually Norman, dressed up as her. As Lila gives a piercing scream and the shower scene music reprises, Norman arrives in the cellar with a cry of "I'm Norman Bates" in his mother's voice. As he advances on Lila, Sam appears in the nick of time and manages to overpower him. 

Norman's story is then fully explained by the psychiatrist who's assessed him after Norman's secret life has now been brought to the attention of the police. The psychiatrist explains, for the benefit of the audience, exactly what's has happened to Norman. He confirms that Norman was responsible for the murders of Marion and Arbogast (and two other missing girls), but stresses that although Norman was physically responsible, mentally it was his mother carrying out the killings. Norman was actually responsible for his mother's death as he killed her (and her lover) in a fit of jealousy. Unable to cope with the guilt, Norman had stolen his mother's corpse and began to live half his life as her: thinking and speaking for her - his mind contained two different personalities that he had to constantly switch between in order to "keep up the illusion of his mother being alive". His dressing up happened whenever "reality got too close" and the illusion was on the brink of being shattered. This is why Arbogast was killed, but Marion was killed due to Norman's belief that because he killed his mother's lover due to jealousy, his mother would react the same way. 

As the psychiatrist puts it: 

"And because he was so pathologically jealous of her, he assumed she was as jealous of him. Therefore, if he felt a strong attraction to any other woman, the mother side of him would go wild. When he met (Marion), he was touched by her, aroused by her, he wanted her. That set off the jealous mother and mother killed the girl"

The psychiatrist closes by stating that the overbearing mother half of Norman's mind has fully taken over now. He also assures everyone that Marion wasn't killed for the $40 000 she had as "These were crimes of passion, not profit". I have to say that this scene with the shrink is my personal favourite scene. There's a direct, matter-of-factness about him that is really quite amusing. He gets so passionate in his explanation, he's compelling to listen to. 

The closing scene to Psycho is very chilling as we hear "Mother's" thoughts about how everything has turned out. She shifts responsibility onto Norman, saying that she can do nothing except "sit and stare, like one of his stuffed birds" so could not possible be capable of murder. She intends to prove how harmless is to the authorities by not showing any signs of anger or aggression at all; refusing to even swat a fly because "They'll see and they'll know and they'll say - why she wouldn't even harm a fly". This scene is particularly effective as the camera is focused on Perkins and his facial expressions say it all. The closing line about the fly wouldn't be half as effective if it wasn't coupled with Norman's fantastic, sinister look right to the camera. Perkins really seems to have captured pure madness in the last shot. Add to this, a brief glimpse of the skull of his mother that faintly merges with Norman's face and he ending couldn't be more fitting.

One reason I love Psycho so much is because of the dialogue. I think all the characters bounce off each other in a really believable way, even the minor ones. I particularly like the scenes with Marion, after she's stolen the money and is on her way to find Sam. She has several thoughts about the reactions of the people she's stolen from and who she's encountered since the theft.  In her head, she plays imaginary conversations between these people. I love Janet Leigh's facial expressions and how they change depending on who she imagines talking; eg Her face is full of apprehension when she thinks what the police officer and the used car guy may be saying about her, but her face twist into a small smirk when she thinks about how Mr Cassidy (the man who's $40 000 she took) might be reacting.

  

As well as the 'iconic' stuff, I'm a huge fan of the little things in this film. Minor characters like 'California Charlie' the used car salesman and the psychiatrist are hugely entertaining in their own right. I feel they're the light relief amid all the drama (whether that's intended is another issue). I also just want to reiterate how much I love Anthony Perkins' portrayal of Norman because, despite several re-watches, I can't help but feel extremely sorry for him. The vulnerability that seems to ooze from him kind of tugs at the heart-strings a little bit. I know he's mentally unstable and the psycho of the film, but I can't stop thinking "Awww! He's so nice" when we're first introduced to him. This is just one of many reasons why I believe Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake was a terrible mistake. Vince Vaughn was never going to touch Anthony Perkins' Norman, it was depressing to watch. When people take characters and make them their own, any other imitators are going to fall flat on their faces. My philosophy when it comes down to remaking films like Psycho is simple: Leave the classics alone.