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Storyline
Psycho is one of the most famous masterpieces from Hitchcock and for it's time was unparalleled in it's horror effect. A chilling score sets the pace for an introverted killer and a mystery thriller case of multiple dimensions. The credits for the film directed by Saul Bass were revolutionary for their time. |
Backdrops
The Director
 Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an Anglo-American director and producer. He pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. After a successful career in his native United Kingdom in both silent films and early talkies, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood. In 1956 he became an American citizen while remaining a British subject.
Over a career spanning more than half a century, Hitchcock fashioned for himself a distinctive and recognizable directorial style. He pioneered the use of a camera made to move in a way that mimics a person's gaze, forcing viewers to engage in a form of voyeurism. He framed shots to maximize anxiety, fear, or empathy, and used innovative film editing. His stories frequently feature fugitives on the run from the law alongside "icy blonde" female characters. Many of Hitchcock's films have twist endings and thrilling plots featuring depictions of violence, murder, and crime, although many of the mysteries function as decoys or "MacGuffins" meant only to serve thematic elements in the film and the extremely complex psychological examinations of the characters. Hitchcock's films also borrow many themes from psychoanalysis and feature strong sexual undertones. Through his cameo appearances in his own films, interviews, film trailers, and the television program Alfred Hitchcock Presents, he became a cultural icon.
Hitchcock directed more than fifty feature films in a career spanning six decades. Often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, he came first in a 2007 poll of film critics in Britain's Daily Telegraph, which said: "Unquestionably the greatest filmmaker to emerge from these islands, Hitchcock did more than any director to shape modern cinema, which would be utterly different without him. His flair was for narrative, cruelly withholding crucial information (from his characters and from us) and engaging the emotions of the audience like no one else." The magazine MovieMaker has described him as the most influential filmmaker of all-time, and he is widely regarded as one of cinema's most significant artists.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Alfred Hitchcock, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
User Reviews
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Revisiting Psycho for the AFI Project
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From March 1, 2008:
Greetings! Yesterday, as I sat home alone, sick and in bed on a Friday night, I came up with a bit of a movie viewing project for myself. I also got the idea from other Spouters who have little viewing projects they blog about (thank you). For the past ten years, since the original list, I have been trying to watch the American Film Institute's top 100 films. Then, the AFI came out with a new list of top 100 films, but not before they came out with other lists to rank certain genres and modes of American films. Since I've newly discovered the joy of instant-movies on Netflix, I have decided to watch every single film on those lists, including revisiting the ones I had already seen (unless I truly hated it).
I know what you're thinking: isn't that a bit limiting, a bit cliche, a bit contrite? Aren't you restricting yourself from watching other classic but non-American films? Well, I've got a Netflix queue filled with a variety of films, including classic foreign films, and this project does not supersede watching other movies. I'm watching these films at my leisure, whenever I can, while I expand my movie-mind on other films in the process--and I will always watch my weekend movie, that's a tradition that seems to have come from childhood. Some of these films are films I truly believe I should watch, though, and so begins this project.
Just a note: this project is not so much to see whether or not I agree with rank and order and such but to see if I agree that each film can truly be labeled a great American film, to watch some of those bona fide classics, and to just expand the list of movies I have seen. This project will also give ...
View full review
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reviewed by Pippin2010 (Filmaster.com) on the 3rd of February 2010
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Hitchcock's most iconic but not his best. It comes off as almost a bit silly at times, although it certainly has a great plot with many surprises (if you've somehow managed not to have them spoiled for you), tons of excellent scenes and an awesome performance from Anthony Perkins.