There are moments in film that can be described as turning points.
There were films before Birth Of A Nation, there were films after Birth Of A Nation.
There were films before and after Citizen Kane and Casablanca.
One of the greatest of the turning points was inarguably Psycho.
There were films before Psycho and there were films after Psycho.
Now, I may be a bit biased, as I consider Alfred Hitchcock to be the greatest filmmaker that ever lived, but Psycho is in large part responsible for cinema as we know it today.
A radical departure for Hitchcock and movies in general, never before had a movie exhibited the narrative structure and unbridled terror and violence of Psycho. From the shocking and grotesque murder of the star 40 minutes into the movie to the final revelation of the murderer’s true identity, nothing like this had ever been seen before, at least in American cinema.
The first slasher movie, the entire horror genre ows everything to Psycho.
Well, you stated your case really well; I just don’t know if anybody wants to argue a contrary position. Psycho was one of the first DVD’s I bought. It doesn’t seem as shocking to a modern audience, and the surprises have all been spoiled even for people who haven’t actually watched the movie, but I still enjoy it just because it’s so well-crafted and acted. Anthony Perkins showed a subtlety that was sometimes lacking in his later performances, where he could seem like a parody of himself.
I wouldn’t argue about its contribution to films. I will say I don’t really enjoy it though. I’m the only one in my family who enjoys horror, and though I knew before watching it that my parents had seen it and were frightened by the shower scene, I still wasn’t.
I know a lot of people will think I didn’t enjoy it because of the films I’d seen previously, but I’m not sure if that’s it. I love old movies, especially Hitchcock’s, just not Psycho. I’m not sure if spoilers I heard prior to watching the movie had anything to do with my not liking it either. Night Of The Living Dead had been spoiled to death by the time I watched it, and I’m still afraid of it.
I still hold my breath during the Mount Rushmore scene in North by Northwest; I want to push Mrs. Danvers out the window when she suggests Mrs. DeWinter should jump; I laugh my head off when I watch The Trouble With Harry. I just didn’t enjoy Psycho, but at the same time appreciate its contribution. How’s that for a contrary opinion?
I liked Psycho. It was one of the first videos I bought. I had seen the shower scene but for some reason I had never been told the ending. I was totally caught up in the story. And knocked off my feet(well I was lying on my bed) by the ending. Id probably see it coming now but atthe time it blew me away.
I remember being pleasantly thrilled by the creepiness of the way the movies was shot. And Being a B & W photo lover I enjoyed the way the shadows were used.
Golly I need to watch it again! Thanks Ilsa!
Oh and I gotta go with the MT. Rushmore scene in NbN as well. That is a scene I NEVER tire of watching…
I am not particularly fond on North By Northwest. It was the slick Hollywood apex of Hitchcock’s golden age, but fails to impress me the way Psycho or Notorious do.
The way I’ve found to enjoy this film afresh is to use a sort of self-hypnosis, and try to imagine that I’ve never seen it before and don’t have any idea what is going to happen to Janet Leigh’s character. I can’t quite make myself be surprised by the shower scene but, in this frame of mind, I find that I really take more interest in the first half-hour of the movie, involving Marian Crane’s crime and flight, than in anything that happens after the murder. The scenes where she is stopped by a police officer and when she changes cars have some suspense to them, instead of just being filler `til she stops at the Bates Motel.
Having said that, my favorite scene remains the conversation between Marian and Norman in the sitting room behind the motel office. There’s so much in the dialogue–not to mention in the room’s dead-bird decor!–plus, it’s a sort of switch-over point in the film, where the plot leaves off Marian’s story, and introduces Norman’s.
I have to ay that I don’t care for North by Northwest as much as say Pycho because it is loong. There are so many moments of just nothing going on or Cary Grant stomping around emoting.
Psycho if I remember right was tightly crafted and moved along.
As far as Notorious, its been awhile since I saw it. I need to see it again. But hell Ingrid could have stood there and read from the damned phone book and I’d have been glued to the screen!
