Psycho Article Summary
The Psycho is a 1960 movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The movie was and still is one of the most controversial films in television history in part due to its first of a kind illustration of violence and nudity, aspects that were deemed immoral then. The Psycho, despite being shot on a low budget compared to any other movies directed by Alfred Hitchcock, by far became Alfred’s most successful film and is viewed by many as having been instrumental in the development of modern-day cinemas.
In this essay, a summary of an article that provides a more in-depth insight into the Psycho movie is provided, the aim being to understand the importance and relevance of the movie better. The article chosen is Alfred Hitchcock goes Psycho, written in 1990 by Rebello Steven and published in the American Film journal. This article provides a good insight into the production of the movie, from the cast and how they adapted to playing their characters to the budget aspects of the production. For better insight, the article relies on and utilizes the accounts of some of the actors and actresses to bring out the important elements surrounding the production of the movie until its premiere in theaters. Therefore, the central thesis and arguments of the article revolve around the production of the movie, the selection of the cast, and how the cast and the director worked to make the film a success, despite the controversy it generated, particularly with the nudity controversy amongst the board members.
Alfred Hitchcock, due to lack of support from Paramount, had decided to shoot the movie using a low budget, and as a result, had to hire cheaper actors and actresses. The article analyses all the actors and how Alfred hired them as his cast for the Psycho. The article highlights the fact that the success of a movie isn’t entirely tied to the experience of the cast, but that even an inexperienced cast can also deliver a good film. The aspect of less known actors making a good movie is captured when Alfred says that “once you cast a star in part, you compromise your original intentions to a great extent” (Rebello 38). Therefore, the article does argue that Alfred found it easier to work with the cast he chose other than the stars he would have taken had he had a bigger budget, yet even with the less known cast, the movie was a huge success.
The most content of the article is devoted to the events surrounding the shooting of the movie, alongside the behaviors and ideas of the cast, and their interactions with the director. One argument that emerges in the article is the willingness of the director to allow the cast to suggest some changes, as well as the freedom to perform them, as long as they were satisfactory. An illustration of the director’s willingness to allow off script add-ons can be seen when he replies “I’m sure they’ll all right” to a suggestion by Perkins to listen to some of her ideas on a speech she was to give during the shooting (Rebello 43).
Another major argument of the article regards the shower scene, and the nudity concerns surrounding it. On the nudity issue, the director had created it in such a way as to lay traps for the censors so they couldn’t figure out the nudity in the shower scene. The issue is so controversial that at first, three members of the board saw nudity and two did not. However, the second time, in a rather dramatic turn, the three who had seen nudity now did not, and the two who hadn’t now saw nudity, even though the movie was sent back to the board exactly as it was at first.
This article provides a more in-depth insight into the film and thus provides an additional critical understanding of the film that would otherwise be difficult to capture by merely watching it. The article, for instance, provides a better understanding of the choice of black and white for the film to reduce the nudity showcased during the shower scene. As a result, the film’s purported nudity scene is difficult to comprehend, as seen in the confused accounts of the censorship board members. The scene, therefore, and the deliberate setting of traps for the board members creates a deeper critical understanding of the Psycho, one that is impossible to capture from merely watching the film. The film’s inclusion of the nudity scene is perhaps one of its most controversial topics, particularly due to the difficulty in recognizing that there actually is a nudity scene. The article further provides a better understanding of Psycho through its analysis of the violence that was depicted in the shower scene, something that hadn’t been seen before in cinema.
The violent murder in the scene, alongside the nudity created a firestorm that no one had expected it would, even to the shock of Alfred Hitchcock, the director. That aspect of the article depicts how violence in cinema was an unknown concept, and how, after the violent murder scene in Psycho, it became a common feature in most mainstream films. The article does, therefore, provide an insight into the reception of the film, and its long term impact on the nature of the cinematic world. In a more precise manner, the film does bring out the tension and apprehension that surrounded the production of the film mainly due to its nudity and violence themes which were nothing like had been seen before in American cinema.
Work Cited
Rebello, Stephen. “Alfred Hitchcock Goes Psycho.” American Film 15 (1990): 38-43.