| psycho (alfred hitchcock 1960) |
[Sep. 26th, 2006|09:48 pm] |
I like to go into a movie not knowing anything about the movie. But with this film, it’s impossible because it is permanently embedded in american pop culture. So the joy of discovering a film like this is destroyed by the fact that you know exactly what happens. i wonder how hitchcock felt. on one hand, to have your film penetrate the culture is what many artists want. on the other hand, you want people to experience the film correctly, not the way most of us go into it now, with a complete knowledge of what's gonna happen (at least with this kind of film). if it were me, i wouldnt want my film to be so widely known.
Some of the acting in this film is over-acting, I feel. Particularly when the psychiatrist explains to everyone what happened (Scooby doo style). Sure, it’s not perfect, but this is another case where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. I mean, when bates kills that Private investegator, it looked so fake when he was falling down the stairs. And the shower scene, as brilliant as it was, could have been better. Why the hell was she smiling so much when she hopped in there anyway? it just didnt feel right. and i think it could have been done slightly better.
But those things aside, this is awesome nonetheless. This was made in 1960, miles ahead of most of the films from that time. I consider vertigo as the 4th greatest film of all time, and thus Hitchcock’s greatest, but this is without a doubt his second greatest.
Gus van sant re-made this. Why? Who knows. Maybe he needed money to make another film. But chris doyle shot it. However, from what I’ve read, van sant’s re-make is a shot for shot copy of Hitchcock’s film. Im glad I saw this version first. I don’t even think I’ll waste my time with van sant’s. |
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| Comments: |
From: (Anonymous)
2006-09-27 07:01 pm (UTC)
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interesting tidbit… universal had a production crew that shot television shows and hitchcock had a show called alfred hitchcock presents. anyways, hitchcock used the television crew to shoot psycho, so it kinda has a low-budget feel to it. but i find it interesting that universal wised up and started cultivating television productions, being that television was a film studio’s biggest rival for an audience. so, universal was double dipping… amazing though that psycho was greenlighted with that mentality in mind.
interesting indeed. if you cant beat em, join em | |
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