Who doesn't love Psycho? No one, that's who. It's a masterpiece and a classic and I'll kick your ass if you say otherwise. I've seen Pyscho several times (though admittedly I was far too young the first time I saw it) but it had been many years since the last time. We have a movie theatre in Palo Alto that only shows old movies and it's been restored to its original decor: an actual ticket booth out front, old-time movie seats, a balcony, an organ that raises and lowers before and after each movie, curtains that open and close over the screen, etc. The whole experience is fun and the atmosphere definitely adds to the movie-going experience (plus they have double features for $7!). I saw a double feature: "The Birds" and "Psycho" and we'll just skip right over the first (where is the ending?? where is the explanation?? why is Suzanne Pleshette only in 0.2375 minutes of it??) and go right to the second.
This movie is the definition of genius! It starts out in the big city and ends up in a creepy deserted motel, it tricks you into thinking the killer isn't the killer, the main character (famously) dies not terribly far into the movie and the twist at the end is impossible to predict. It's a fascinating study of film-making in the 60s, a brilliant representation of what Hitchcock does best and a really scary movie! It was nominated for 4 Oscars (including Best Actress- Janet Leigh and Best Director- Alfred Hitchcock) but didn't win any. If you've never seen "Psycho", and I pity you if that's the case, get thee to a Blockbuster immediately!
Extra: Several years ago I saw the exhibit at Universal Studios which explains some classic movie magic. They have an in-depth demonstration of many of the elements that make up the classic "shower scene". It was the first place I learned that the blood was actually chocolate syrup which looked more realistic in black and white than fake blood. Also, there's a clip of Janet Leigh explaining that the scene took almost a week to shoot and Hitchcock, being such a perfectionist, was obsessive about getting each shot right. Although she appears naked in the scene, she was fully clothed for most of the shooting and it took so long and was so boring that the filming experience was nothing at all like the experience of seeing it on film. She said that she was so scared when she saw the movie that she refused to take showers alone at home ever again. Fascinating! For more interesting tidbits, Wikipedia has a great write-up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_%281960_film%29
(Note: that scene scared me so much as a child that I may or may not still to this day dislike shower curtains. Just sayin'...)
No comments:
Post a Comment