Psycho
USA, 1960
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenplay writer: Joseph Stefano (based on the novel by Robert Bloch)
Soundtrack composer: Bernard Herrmann
Production company: Paramount Pictures
Cast:
Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates)
Janet Leigh (Marion Crane)
Vera Miles (Lila Crane)
John Gavin (Sam Loomis)
Martin Balsam (Private Investigator)
Film Genre: Thriller, Psychological Horror
Plot
Marion Crane is a young woman working as a secretary in Phoenix, Arizona. She wants to marry her boyfriend Sam, but he insists on postponing the marriage, especially because of certain debts inherited from his father.
At the real estate office where she is employed, Marion receives an assignment from her boss: to deposit a client’s $40,000 in the bank. In the midst of her fiancé’s financial problems, she can’t resist the temptation to steal the money. Marion makes off with the $40,000. But instead of taking refuge with Sam, she prefers to escape from the city for the time being. At the wheel of her car, she sets off on a road trip to an uncertain destination.
On the way, she arouses the suspicions of a police officer, who follows her for some time. Marion decides to change cars by purchasing another vehicle at a used car store. Her nervous attitude, as if she were running away from something, attracts the attention of the salesman…
At night, while it is raining heavily, Marion arrives at a secluded roadside motel. She is served by a somewhat strange but rather nice young man named Norman Bates.
While in her room, Marion overhears Norman arguing with his mother in the house across the street from the boarding house. She reproaches him for having put the girl up. The old woman seems to tyrannize her son and to be a very possessive and jealous mother.
Later, Norman accompanies his guest to dinner and the two converse. Norman is a big fan of taxidermy, he is in the business of embalming birds. He notices that she is running away from something. Marion, for her part, suggests to Norman that he too should “run away”, so that he can become independent of his mother. But he feels very attached to her, and must stay by her side because she is “sick”. He admits that she is somewhat tiresome at times, but “harmless”.
Marion retires to her room (decorated with images of birds), intending to take a shower. The silhouette of an old woman wielding a knife approaches her while she is taking a shower…
In Phoenix, Lila Crane goes to Sam’s workplace in search of her missing sister. She hasn’t heard from Marion in about a week, and believes Marion has gone into hiding at her boyfriend’s house. But Sam claims he knows nothing. Detective Arbogast also arrives, ready to solve the disappearance of the $40,000… and Marion’s disappearance.
Arbogast begins checking boarding houses, motels and lodging houses throughout Phoenix and the surrounding area. He finally arrives at the secluded, semi-hidden establishment of Norman Bates…
Comment
Paranoia, schizophrenia, a certain oedipal complex, detective intrigue, mystery and a lot of tension are the ingredients of “Psycho”, authentic precursor of the slasher subgenre.
It is difficult to talk about this film without the usual spoilers. Even so, the shower scene is world famous, having penetrated the collective unconscious of every good moviegoer. It is a climax, a high point of the film, which occurs almost halfway through the film, throwing the viewer off balance about the roles in the story (who is really the protagonist, antagonist, etc.).
When Marion (Janet Leigh) escapes the city, fearing persecution, and overwhelmed by her anxious thoughts, it seems like a road movie. That changes when the young woman arrives at the remote and somewhat ramshackle motel. There, as the only customer, she meets the manager Norman Bates, who like her has something to hide… Mystery and suspense now take the reins, deservedly turning “Psycho” into that immortal classic that is considered by the overwhelming majority of filmic connoisseurs.
Anthony Perkins brilliantly embodies Norman, a lonely young man, with no social life, constantly dominated by his mother, and with strange hobbies. The dialogue he has with Marion is memorable, especially when he states that taxidermy is for him “something more” than a hobby, because “a hobby is to pass the time, not to fill it”. He is dedicated to embalming birds, emptying them of their viscera and then stuffing them. “Coincidentally” the room he rents to Marion is decorated with images of birds – Some years later, Hitchcock would film “The Birds” (1963), perhaps he was already revealing to us his intention to shoot that other film. Also, Marion’s last name is Crane, and she is from Phoenix (the phoenix).
“Psycho” would influence numerous directors in the future in the field of suspense and horror. Among other films, we can find parallels in “The Third Eye” (1966) by Mino Guerrini, an Italian thriller starring Franco Nero with a very similar atmosphere and the premise of “possessive mother affecting her son’s mental health”. “The Third Eye” would be adapted thirteen years later by Joe D’Amato, who brought us the excellent “Buio Omega” (1979). In both films we also have the taxidermist as a fundamental element. On the other hand, the influence of the Hitchcockian classic is also evident in “The house that screamed” (1970) by Chicho Ibáñez Serrador.
Alfred Hitchcock makes one of his usual cameos, appearing as an intern in the street in front of the office where the thieving secretary works. And his daughter Patricia Hitchcock has a small role as Marion’s co-worker.
The unforgettable music of the soundtrack was composed by Bernard Herrmann. The detective Arbogast is played by Martin Balsam, whom we also saw in Italian films such as “Il consigliori” (Alberto De Martino, 1973), “Pronto ad uccidere” (Franco Prosperi, 1976), or the second part of the miniseries saga “La Piovra”.
The story told in “Psycho” is based on a novel published the previous year (1959). This, in turn, was inspired by the real events triggered by the serial killer Ed Gein.
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