Psycho Image Analysis 2

 

This image takes place in the aftermath of the famous shower scene with an extreme close up of Marion’s eye which makes the audience slightly unsettled due to how claustrophobic the shot is. The shot is also a canted, expressionist angle to make the image more disorientating which helps the audience feel sympathy for Marion. The camera then follows the teardrop and blood down the plughole of the bath connoting that her life is thrown away and was indispensable to Norman Bates.

During the shower scene she is killed with a knife which is a phallic symbol of Norman’s power and dominance and further shows Marion as a victim. There are several clues from the beginning of the film that suggest she will be the female victim. The fact that she is stereotypically blonde (you can see some of her hair in the upper right corner) and sexually active with Sam tells us this.

This scene shows Hitchcock’s auteur style as it is part of a collision cut of quick (shower attack scene) to slow montage. Hitchcock is famous for these slow montages which create tension and suspense and collision cutting from quiet to loud and slow to quick to make the audience jump/shudder. This is due to Hitchcock’s love of Soviet Montage films like Battleship Potemkim