Monday, November 1, 2010

Day Twenty One: "Psycho killer qu'est-ce que c'est?"

I love my mother but Norman Bates takes wanting to be with your mother forever way to far. "Psycho" starring Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates showcases a story about an unstable, twisted and extreme version of a classic mama's- boy.

The movie starts off with Marion, a young lady who has embezzled money from her boss and searches for a hotel to hide out in. She finds the Bates hotel. Norman's mother lives in the house next to the hotel. When he asks her if Marion can have dinner with them she denies his request saying she won't allow "strange young girls for supper". Norman and Marion end up eating at the hotel and talking about his Mother. There's a heated argument between the two about the mental state of his Mother and how she should be institutionalized. Once dinner is over Marion goes to her room. Norman is creeping outside her door and watching her undress. She's heading to the bath room, anyone want to take a guess at what comes next?

Alas, the iconic shower scene. Before I even knew the plot behind this movie or heard of the character of Norman Bates I had watched this scene. It's a great scene, don't get me wrong, but I'm pretty sure we all know about it so lets move on to Norman's little secret.

Essentially, without going into great detail about the rest of the movie, Norman Bates is seriously screwed up. The story behind him is that he was jealous of his Mother's lover so he killed both of them but felt such guilt from doing so he wanted to erase what happened from his memory which then made him crack and stake on another personality; his Mothers. Marion is killed in the shower by a female who is suspected to be Normans Mother. But to my surprise it was just dear old Norman dressed like his Mama. Well, there wasn't too much surprise, Anthony Perkins is a good looking guy but he can pull off disturbed well.

This Hitchcock classic is worth a watch. Bring on the chocolate syrup!