Sunday, September 27, 2009

Psycho - Alfred Hitchcock (1960)

This is another film I had watched before. This actually makes it easier to watch from a critical perspective, since I am not caught up in trying to follow the story (oh no....I'm starting to sound like a film snob!!)

This is a piece of cinematic genius. I have to say, this Hitchcock fellow knew how to make a movie. (She says, tongue planted firmly in cheek.) Even though I had seen this already, I was still in suspense. There is a scene where Janet Leigh is driving down the highway...between the music, and the way he filmed it (montage method alert!!) I was on the edge of my seat...AND I knew what was going to happen. Genius.

So....the famous shower scene. Classic montage film making - short scenes edited together to heighten suspense - there are 77 different camera angles, and 50 cuts, the scene running just 3 minutes (according to Wikipedia). If he had just filmed the scene straight - watching the murder happen without all those cuts/edits/camera angles - it would not have been so impactful. The only piece of trivia I knew about this movie was, the blood that was used was actually chocolate syrup - had a better look on film than the fake blood. (Keep that in mind next time you use your Hershey's syrup.)

This is just a good movie. It's engaging, it's suspenseful, it's clever. And I think you could watch it multiple times and not get bored...and still be on the edge of your seat.

One word to describe 'Psycho': Suspenseful.

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