Madness
Alfred Hitchcock is known for his masters of works in the film industry. The film he is most famous for is Psycho. Alfred Hitchcock`s Psycho was critically acclaimed not only in the horror genre but within the entire film scene. It encompasses several key themes, which are portrayed through cinematic devices such as camera movement and sound, sound, lighting and costume and set design. The subject of madness becomes increasingly evident as the film progresses, centering on the peculiar character that is Norman Bates.
Hitchcock’s Psycho portrays the theme of madness during the scene where Marion is taking a shower, having resolved to return to Phoenix, and give back the stolen money (Crowther, 1). The scene is presented in one zoomed
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The scene utilizes different camera angles, such as from eye-level of the characters, to a more obscure angle with the camera on the ground facing up at them. The shot captures Norman in a sinister and peculiar nature fashion, which is later revealed to be resultant from his madness. There is the use of differing camera shots, from the wide shot of Norman and Marion at the beginning of their conversation, to the close-up of the character’s faces later on. Zooming in on Marion and Norman’s face, for instance, reveals a considerable sharp contrast between the lighting that befalls their faces. The omnidirectional light softly illuminates Marion, while in contrast, it harshly illuminates Norman, forming shadows on his face, alluding to his dual personalities and by extension, to his mentally challenged nature. The taxidermy birds which hang on the walls, are perhaps the most daunting and noticeable mise-en-scene within the parlor scene (Ebert, 1). The birds occupy a dual nature, just as is the case with Norman’s psyche; they seem to watch him intently, as a predator would watch its prey, while concurrently, they appear to linger above him like sinister
Psycho is a suspense-horror film written by Joseph Stefano and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This film was loosely adapted from Robert Bloch’s 1959 suspense novel, Psycho. A majority of the movie was filmed in 1960 at Universal Studios in Los Angeles. Psycho is about Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), a secretary from Arizona who steals $40,000 from her employer’s client. She takes that money and drives off to California to meet her lover Sam Loomis (John Gavin) in order to start a new life. After a long drive, she pulls off the main highway and ends up taking refuge at an isolated motel owned and managed by a deranged Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). In Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Psycho, symbols, character and point of view are three literary aspects used in the film to manipulate the audience’s emotions and to build suspense in the film.
Hitchcock has characteristics as an auteur that is apparent in most of his films, as well as this one.
Madness: A History, a film by the Films Media Group, is the final installment of a five part series, Kill or Cure: A History of Medical Treatment. It presents a history of the medical science community and it’s relationship with those who suffer from mental illness. The program uses original manuscripts, photos, testimonials, and video footage from medical archives, detailing the historical progression of doctors and scientists’ understanding and treatment of mental illness. The film compares and contrasts the techniques utilized today, with the methods of the past. The film offers an often grim and disturbing recounting of the road we’ve taken from madness to illness.
The two films Psycho and The Birds, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock, share similar themes and elements. These recurring themes and elements are often prevalent in many of Hitchcock’s works. In Psycho and The Birds, Hitchcock uses thematic elements like the ideal blonde woman, “the motherly figure”, birds, and unusual factors that often leave the viewer thinking. Hitchcock’s works consist of melodramatic films, while also using pure cinema to help convey messages throughout the film.
Everyone is considered insane to a certain degree. Whether one defines it as mentally unstable or as someone that is being viewed wrong, there is no truly sane person. The Catcher in the Rye presents a conflict that leaves the reader pondering over the idea whether the main character, Holden Caulfield, is mad. They base his madness off of his behaviors and personality. Even though he could be considered insane, there is a reason behind his strange choice in actions. This misunderstood madness places an important role throughout the novel.
While Alfred Hitchcock is most well known for causing his audiences to feel fear, there is more to his movies then that. The themes of inadequateness of the police, control of all details in his films, and long stretches of no dialogue are prevalent in several of his films. He does not just happen to do these things by chance, but they are all related to things that happened to him during his childhood and his early career. No one can escape their past and not let it influence at least part of their life, and Alfred Hitchcock was no exception.
The character of Norman Bates deviated from the book's original character, a forty year old pervert, to Anthony Perkins' character 'a tender vulnerable young man' one could almost feel sorry for. Perkins plays Norman Bates as if the role were written for him, with his nervous voice used throughout the movie and his awkward appearance and actions. A distinct part of Norman's character is his subtle lapses in which he shows signs of the ever present 'Mother'. The parlour scene is an excellent example of these lapses. The lines 'a boy's best friend is his mother' and 'we all go a little mad sometimes' are e...
The film Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960) is an interesting film with many small details that help shape the film in to award winning masterpiece it is. The mise-en-scène is something that can go overlooked, but is very vital in understanding the meaning of the film. According to the book Film Art, mise-en-scène is all of the elements in front of the camera to be photographed, and because of that, this film technique is one that viewers notice most (p. 112). So this includes things like characters, props, nature and even behavior. Motifs and symbolism are prominent throughout the entire movie. They both help develop the plot either by continuously appearing throughout the film or by having a specific meaning that is a lot deeper than what it looks like on the surface. The mise-en-scène, especially motifs and symbolism, of Psycho plays a huge role in helping convey the meaning of the film.
In the article, “Psycho at Fifty: Pure Cinema or Invitation to an Orgy?” by John A. Bertolini, he describes how the images and scenes throughout the whole movie and its more arguable parts are what made the film stick with the imagination of Hitchcock’s audience. He goes on to give an explanation of how Hitchcock is as well one of few directors who is able to mix a little humor to go along with his vicious plot. Bertolini speculates that the audience was thrown off by savagery depicted in this film and more concerned with the emotions that were created by Hitchcock’s movie. He also outlines how much controversy the film created Psycho by stating how it, “reflected the changes at work in the larger society, especially the increasing insiste...
The film Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is a psychological thriller that was created in 1960. The main theme of this film revolves around psychological illnesses. The film focuses on the main character, Norman Bates, and his psychological problems which include a split personality, voyeurism, sadism, guilt and self-punishment, and anal fixation. Throughout the movie you can see Bates exhibit these traits at different points; however, some traits are not as clearly evident as others. This film takes an in-depth look at how someone who possesses a mental illness might behave or think.
Hitchcock employs the notion of the capability of isolation to create conflict and fear. Isolation is apparent in the crop dusting scene due to the lack of people and buildings which juxtaposes to the busy streets of New York City earlier in the film. An establishing shot of the empty desert and Thornhill standing on the road alone, implies that Thornhill is insignificant and isolated as the scene is predominantly the landscape. A long shot of Thornhill and an unknown character in a “typical standoff” scene creates tension and fear for the audience. As the two men speak, non-diegetic sounds of a plane becomes prevalent. When the man says “I’ve seen worse” in response to Rodgers question, this is a foreshadowing of the crop dusting plane attack
Frist Alfred Hitchcock, he is the master of suspense. He imposed a new style with his films.
Inspired by the life of the demented, cannibalistic Wisconsin killer Ed Gein (whose heinous acts would also inspire THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, 1974 and DERANGED, 1974), PSYCHO is probably Hitchcock's most gruesome and dark film. Its importance to its genre cannot be overestimated. PSYCHO's enduring influence comes not only from the Norman Bates character (who has since been reincarnated in a staggering variety of forms), but also from the psychological themes Hitchcock develops.
Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite subject was the superficial placidity of American life, whose clean, bright surfaces disguised the most shockingly moral, political, psychological and sexual aberrations. For Hitchcock, the most striking, funny, and terrifying quality of American life was its confidence in its sheer ordinariness. Beneath the surface, ordinary people and normal life were always ‘bent’ for Hitchcock.
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman is the story of a woman spiralling into madness whilst her physician husband refuses to acknowledge that she has a "real" problem. On the other hand The Black Cat by Edgar Alan Poe is about a man who is initially fond of cats however as the plot progresses he becomes an alcoholic making him moody and violent, which lead him to torture and kills the animals and eventually also his wife. In Edgar Allan Poe’s "The Black Cat," symbolism is used to show the narrator’s capacity for violence, madness, and guilt .The recurring theme present in both these stories is that the main protagonists claim that they suffer or have been taken over by a form of madness. In this essay I shall examine the various symbolism used by the writer's to represent madness.