Film Analysis of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho”

Introduction

“Psycho” (1960) is based on a novel of the same name by Robert Bloch.

The film was directed by Hollywood legend, Alfred Hitchcock. The screen
play was written by Joseph Stephano and based on the real life crimes of
serial killer, Ed Gein.

The film stars Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, John Gavin and Vera Miles.
The film garnered four academy award nominations and widely regarded
as one of Hitchcock’s best films. It spawned two sequels, a prequel, a
remake and even a television show.

Synopsis

The story begins with Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) and her lover, Sam
Loomis (John Gavin) who are conducting an illicit affair. Marion is
portrayed as a respectable and moral woman and Loomis is, as such, her
male counterpart, possessing the same qualities.

Later, at her work place, Marion is entrusted with a large sum of money by
her employer. He asks her to deposit it at the bank but in a moment of
weakness, Marion takes the money and runs to Fairvale where Sam lives.
Though she does her best to be discreet, Marion is a terrible criminal and
almost instantaneously draws attention to herself as someone who is in
trouble.

Almost at Fairvale, she is forced to stop for the night at the Bates Motel as
it is raining too hard for her to reach Fairvale that night. The proprietor,
Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), invites her to dinner at his family house
on the hill overlooking the motel. When he leaves to prepare dinner,
Marion hears him arguing with his unseen mother, who tells him that she
refuses to allow him "bringing in strange young girls for supper".

Norman brings sandwiches to the motel to eat there instead. The two
proceed to have a conversation over dinner, topics ranging from
taxidermy to Norman's mother, who he says has been mentally ill since
the death of her lover. When Marion suggests that his mother be
institutionalized, he becomes very aggressive, saying he wants to do so
but does not want to abandon her. He compares his life to being in a
"trap," and observes that everyone is in a similar situation. Marion agrees
with him, telling him that she "stepped into a private trap back in
Phoenix." Afterward, Marion returns to her room, where she resolves to
return the money. Norman, who has become intrigued with her, watches
her undress through a hole in the wall, obscured by a painting. After
Marion counts the money, she takes a shower. During the shower, an
anonymous female assailant enters the bathroom and stabs her to death.
Back at the house, Norman calls out to his mother: "Mother! Oh, God,
mother! Blood! Blood!"

He runs to the motel, where he finds the corpse; he presumes his mother
killed Marion, so he tries to erase all traces of the crime to protect her. He
puts Marion's body and all her possessions, including the newspaper in
which she had hidden the money, into the trunk of her car and sinks it in a
nearby swamp.

Sam is contacted by Marion's sister Lila (Vera Miles) and private detective
Milton Arbogast (Martin Balsam), who was hired by Crane's employer to
recover the money. Arbogast traces Marion to the motel and questions
Norman, who unconvincingly lies that Marion only stayed for one night.
Arbogast wants to question Norman's mother, but Norman refuses to give
permission, saying that she is ill. Arbogast calls Lila to update her and tells
her he will call again after he questions Norman's mother. Arbogast
returns to the house, and proceeds up the staircase. The same assailant
who killed Marion emerges from the adjacent room and stabs him to
death.

Back at Sam's shop, Lila and Sam are puzzled that Arbogast has not
returned for three hours, considering he said it would only be an hour. At
the house, in an unseen conversation, Norman confronts his mother and
urges her to hide in the fruit cellar, saying that more people will come
looking for both Marion and Arbogast. She rejects the idea and orders him
out of her room, but against her will Norman carries her down to the
cellar.

Lila and Sam go visit Deputy Sheriff Al Chambers, who is perplexed to

learn that Arbogast saw Norman's mother in the window; he informs them
that, 10 years before, Norman's mother had poisoned her lover and then
committed suicide. Shocked, Lila and Sam realize that the only way to find
out the truth is to go to the motel themselves. Posing as a married couple,
Sam and Lila check into the motel and search Marion's room, where they
find a scrap of paper stuck in the toilet with "$40,000" written on it. While
Sam distracts Norman, Lila sneaks into the house. Sam suggests to
Norman that he killed Marion for the money so he could buy a new motel.
Realizing Lila is not around, Norman knocks Sam unconscious and rushes
to the house. Lila sees him approaching and hides in the cellar where she
discovers a woman sitting in a rocking chair with her back to her. She calls
to the old woman—and discovers that it is in fact a mummified corpse.
Seconds later, Norman rushes in wearing his mother's clothes and a wig
and brandishing a knife. He tries to attack Lila, but Sam subdues him just
in time.
After Norman's arrest, a forensic psychiatrist tells Sam and Lila that
Norman's dead mother is living in Norman's psyche as an alternate
personality. After the death of Norman's father, the pair lived as if they
were the only people in the world. When his mother found a lover,
Norman went insane with jealousy and murdered them both. Consumed
with guilt, Norman "erased the crime" by bringing his mother back to life
in his own mind. He stole her corpse and preserved the body. When he
was "Mother", he acted, talked and dressed as she would, and when
Norman's own personality felt affection toward another person, such as
Marion, the "Mother" side of his mind would become extremely jealous; he
killed Marion, Arbogast, and two other missing women as "Mother". The
psychiatrist concludes that the "Mother" personality now has complete
control of Norman's mind.

Psychoanalysis

Id, Ego and Super Ego:

In the film, the Id displays itself prominently in two characters – Marion

Crane and Norman Bates.

Marion’s struggle with her fundamental wants and desires begins with
the first scene of the film when we are shown her conversation with her
lover, Loomis. Though she is normally a moral and respectable woman,
she has succumbed to an illicit affair with him that she feels guilty about.
Later, when Marion is given the chance to get her hands on a large sum of
money, she does so, and though she struggles with the decision, she
finally embraces her Id and takes the money and leaves town. At this
point, Marion’s Id has seemingly taken over her personality. As she drives
away, all she thinks about is being with her lover. She also thinks about
her boss, co-worker and the client she stole from, with contempt. Though
she is scared of discovery, she is hell bent on using the money to further
her and Loomis’ life together.

Marion’s struggle is ended when she reaches the Bates Motel and meets
Norman Bates. Bates plays the role of her super ego in this situation,
talking about his sick mother and his obligations to her. He also talks
about “traps” and people’s tendency to get caught up in them – giving
Marion the pause needed for her to come to her senses and regret her
impulsive actions. She resolves to return to Phoenix and give back the
money she stole.

At this point, Marion is in a more calm and logical state – compromising

between her Id and Super ego- her consciousness is now more rational
and therefore, Marion is once again her normal state – the Ego.
Norman Bates is by far, the most fascinating character in the film.
Norman is the perfect example of the Id, Ego and Super Ego.

His Id is portrayed by his “mother”, the raving lunatic who stabs and kills
several victims because of Norman’s conflicted feelings and issues.
Norman, unlike Marion, feels that his Id is separate from him, an entirely
different person.

Norman displays another classical Freudian disorder – the fabled Split

personality disorder.

Norman’s Ego is his conscious state when he isn’t being his “mother”, ie,
Id. He struggles to find the right balance between his Id and Super ego
which results in conflicted actions – he is distraught to see blood on his
“mother” and when he see’s Marion’s body, he is repulsed and terrified.
This is the reaction of Norman’s Super ego, a part of himself that he still
accepts and see’s as “Norman”. He compromises between the two by
cleaning up after his “mother” and disposing of Marion’s body. The same
cycle occurs again with Arbogast. His identity of “Norman” is essentially
his Ego – struggling between his “Mother’s” mistakes and his own high
ideals which he voices to Marion. It can also be defined as a struggle
between his Realistic and Narcissistic egos.

He plays the role of the Super Ego to Marion when he speaks with her,
reminding her of pitfalls and traps people fall into instead of doing their
duty.

Bates’ character shows distinct symptoms of all three Freudian concepts-

at various times in the film he is the Id, the Ego and the Super Ego.

There is a marked difference between the two central characters –

Norman and Marion – she is overcome with remorse, choosing to embrace
her Super Ego and repent. Norman, however, is seen at the end of the
movie as completely under the control of his “mother”, having embraced
his Id in its entirety.

Oedipal complex:

Norman displays signs of an oedipal complex from the minute his

character is introduced in the film. His “Mother” is an opinionated, ill
tempered, dominating woman who Norman tries hard to appease and is
yet repulsed by.

According to the psychiatrist at the end of the film, Norman and his
mother shared an unhealthily close relationship where he was the centre
of her world until she met her lover. For many years, Norman had been
the only man in her life as her husband had died when Norman was very
young. Without a male “phallic” figure to discourage his interest in his
mother, Norman grew to be possessive towards his mother. He was
inappropriately attracted to her and was therefore enraged when she
turned her attentions to someone else. Angry and jealous, Norman kills
both his mother and her lover, serving as a stressor for his split
personality. His conflicted sexual feelings towards his mother, unresolved
as they were, transferred to all other women that he was attracted to. If
he liked them, then they were like his mother who betrayed him and
chose someone else over him. His anger drove him to kill them (we learn
later that Marion was his third such victim).

Norman cannot conceive a world where his mother isn’t the centre of his
universe and continues to keep her so by embalming her and keeping her
body in his house – trying to keep her spirit alive the way he wants her to
be.

The oedipal complex is also shown in his mixed feelings towards her - he
loves her but hates her at the same time. Without a male figure and
external influences, he is unable to form any real and healthy
relationships and is extremely fixated on his mother. This later gives rise
to his alter ego (the expression of his Id) as his “mother”.

Another theme to the film is Voyeurism. Norman’s life is dictated by his

voyeurism. First with his mother, he regards her inappropriately and
obviously spies on her and her lover, leading to their deaths while ‘in bed’
(as we later learn from the deputy’s wife).

A major instance of voyeurism is when Norman looks through a peep hole

and watches Marion get undressed and prepare to take a shower. Later,
dressed as his mother, he watches her and then stabs her repeatedly.

Voyeurism in the film isn’t solely confined to Norman. Lila, Marion’s sister
also is a sort of voyeur when she enters the Bates house, looking for Mrs.
Bates. She looks around the house, scrutinizing it for signs of anything
odd and in that situation, notices a lot of things about Norman and his
mother – she looks through her clothes, her jewellery, etc as well as
Norman’s books, LP’s and his room.

Voyeurism is shown to be a fundamental part of Norman’s make up when

as “mother” at the end of the film, he/she is obsessed with people
watching her and showing them that she “couldn’t hurt a fly”. He/she is
convinced that they are watching and judging her.
Conclusion

“Psycho” is one of Hitchcock’s best known films and one of the many with
psychoanalytical influences. Hitchcock tended to insert subconscious
Freudian ideas into his film, giving them interesting aspects to watch out
for. “Psycho” is truly a multi-layered film which has truly stood the test of
time and remains one of the most shocking and eerie films in the history
of cinema.