Examining The Shower Scene In The Movie Psycho
May 11, 2010
The movie Psycho, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, contains what is perhaps the most famous scenes in film history. Janet Leigh, the protagonist of the picture, is viewed undressing and entering the shower. The film shows images of the shower, the water running through the drain and Janet Leigh behind the shower curtain. A dark figure is seen coming closer to her, and as the shower curtains are ripped open, we hear Janet Leigh scream, the stalker produce a knife, and the sounds of screeching violins is heard as the poor lady meets her doom.
There are a number of reasons why this scene is so well regarded. The controversial nature of the moment and the effect this had on straight-laced viewers in 1960 is perhaps the greatest reason for the fame of this scene. To give you an idea of how this culture thought of film, consider that this was the first mainstream movie to have a shot of a toilet! You can then get an idea of how viewers would have felt seeing a person in a bra, undressing and getting into a shower in a Hollywood film. Then add to that the shock of watching her murder!
Hitchcock created the film with the aim of making something that looked a lot rougher than the films his fans was used to seeing. The movie was in black and white which was uncommon for the time. The edited version had a much faster pace than what was considered the norm.
The structuring of this scene took Hitchcock many months to complete, and he would work for hours on each shot and how the shots would be cut together before shooting a single minute of film. This allowed him to cut in such a way that the section is thought of as far more graphic in the audiences memory than it actually is if you slow the film down to watch each moment frame-by-frame.
But what perhaps caused the most shock among audiences seeing the film for the first time was the way Hitchcock had developed Janet Leigh’s character up until that time. Janet Leigh was sold as the star of this movie, and was treated as the main heroine until the shower scene. But this moment occurs only halfway through the film! So along with the shock of seeing a murder happen onscreen, the viewers are shocked that the hero of the film has been murdered before the story had found any kind of resolution.
While Hitchcock’s movies always represent a somewhat disconnected view of reality, there can be no questioning that he was a masterful technician at manipulating the audiences emotions. The infamous shower scene of this film is testament to this fact, and it is no wonder it Is become one of the most well-known, often-parodied and often-taught scenes in film history. Though some today are reluctant to see old movies, especially those in black and white, Psycho deserves a watch just so you can find out about this milestone in cinema.
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