Psycho
“I think that we're all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and we claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch.”Theres something wickedly gorgeous about every Alfred Hitchcock movie I watch. The cold opens, the dialogue, the almost-humor, it just breathes a sort of unique charm I can’t quite grasp but notice without fail.
Most Hitchcock stories follow the same formula of unassuming beginnings, and then — slowly, carefully, naturally, the exposition builds. And as the credits roll you’re left wondering why you heart is doing some funny little dance and why you like it. Theres something intimate when you know who murdered who and who loves who.
“People always mean well. They cluck their thick tongues and shake their heads and suggest, oh, so very delicately.”
It’s a little coy to have us be so close to a protagonist and then swiftly sweep the rug out from under us. Of course, in lieu of a main character, we shift our focus onto the closest, if not poor, substitute — the antagonist. But a funny thing happens when the lines between pro & antagonist blur and suddenly you’re left wondering if you should root for or against the character, eventually you find yourself doing both simultaneously.
“To tell you the truth, I do mind. You see, if it doesn’t jell, it isn’t aspic, and this ain’t jelling. It’s not coming together, something’s missing.”
It’s a little hard to hate Norman Bates when Anthony Perkins plays him lmao. I would go into depth about his supposed (and borderline Freudian) relationship with his mother and how deep it runs, but I’m honestly a little fixated on his face and why Janet Leigh was so elated to take a shower. 10/10!