WE ALL GO A LITTLE MAD, SOMETIMES
Pauline Kael once observed that Psycho (1960; Alfred Hitchcock) is the film that forever altered the dynamic existing between movies and moviegoers; henceforth, filmmakers had no responsibility to treat their audiences kindly. I couldn’t agree more. Indeed, viewers were now fair game--to be shocked, tortured, disillusioned. This film’s legendary technical deftness is complemented by the oh-so dark humor in Hitch’s direction and Joseph Stefano’s script.
Beautifully played by all, particularly Anthony Perkins, as the insane killer who, against our will, we come to root for. After all, our leading lady (Janet Leigh) has been taken from us, so who else is there? Psychological considerations aside, Hitchcock demonstrated that he could easily slide into the new mold of low-budget thrillers and create the best one to date. Bernard Herrmann’s all-string score belongs in everybody’s CD library.
NOTE: Robert Bloch, author of the source novel (in which Norman is a roly-poly butterball) took his inspiration from the Ed Gein case, which occurred in northern Wisconsin when Bloch was living in Milwaukee.)
“..."Mother, she's just a stranger"! As if men don't desire strangers! As if... ohh, I refuse to speak of disgusting things, because they disgust me! You understand, boy? Go on, go tell her she'll not be appeasing her ugly appetite with MY food... or my son! Or do I have tell her because you don't have the guts! Huh, boy? You have the guts, boy?”
Beautifully played by all, particularly Anthony Perkins, as the insane killer who, against our will, we come to root for. After all, our leading lady (Janet Leigh) has been taken from us, so who else is there? Psychological considerations aside, Hitchcock demonstrated that he could easily slide into the new mold of low-budget thrillers and create the best one to date. Bernard Herrmann’s all-string score belongs in everybody’s CD library.
“You know what I think? I think that we're all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and we claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch.”
NOTE: Robert Bloch, author of the source novel (in which Norman is a roly-poly butterball) took his inspiration from the Ed Gein case, which occurred in northern Wisconsin when Bloch was living in Milwaukee.)
