Psycho: Narrative and the Film Extract

1. How is this film constructed according to how its story being told?

The film is constructed through the main character she, Marion she is first introduced with her secret lover Sam. As they converse it reveled that money is an issue because Sam working off debts to both his x-wife and his deceased father. As a result of this we see Marion stealing from a rich pretentious customer from her job. As the audience follows her we see that she has packed her bags and is leaving with the money. She becomes very suspicious as she encounters a  police officer and exchanges her car. As the film continues to follow Marion's journey she arrives at the Bates Hotel. Ever scene included Marion up until she was murdered, from then on the story follows her sister and Sam when they are investigating how and where Marion is gone, here we see dramatic irony up until the end of the film.   

2. Is the narrative organized by plot or time sequence, or some other way?

The film is organized by plot with every action followed by a an effect which leads to another action.There are no flashbacks or do we see any thing from Marion's past. The film focuses on everything that is happening "now" in the film. There is one scene in the film were we see Marion, and parallel action about how the people are reacting behavior as well as her absence, the sells men says " Heck officer that was the first time I've ever seen costumer high pressure the sells men" and then her boss saying "Is Marion in yet?", and "For haven's sake a girl works for you for 10 years, you trust her" and lastly the man she stole the money from said,"I'll get it back and if anything is missing I'll replace it will her fine soft flesh", these quotes are also told in order of sequence.The film continue to be shown in  consecutive order.

3. Does the film use other principles than narrative sequence as a structure?

The film first opens with a couple in a hotel room, in this scene a problem is introduced. The couple converse about not having enough time to see each other, it then becomes clear that they are unmarried and meeting in secret. A bigger problem is expressed when Sam, Marion's lover, says " I sweat to pay off my father's debts... and he's in his grave... I sweat to pay my ex-wife other side of the world somewhere.  alimony, and she's living on the ". A motive is now introduced to Marion and Sam for needing more money for a happier life.Marion later says You couldn't be a criminal if you committed a major crime.Sam responds with I wish I were. Not an active criminal but... a nice guy with the conscience of a criminal.This foreshadows Marion's actions because later we see in the film Marion stealing money.She is not necessarily a bad person because her motives in stealing money from her job are with good intention, so this is exactly what Marion becomes "nice women with the conscience of a criminal". One other significant scene is when Marion first talks with Norman, they sit in a room were Norman's collections of stuffed birds surrounds them, this conversation reveals to the audience how creepy Norman is when it comes to his mother and birds.Norman says And I guess I'd just rather stuff birds because... well, I hate the look of beasts when they're stuffed, foxes and chimps and all..., This "stuffing birds" is a British slang for sex and a bird meaning a desirable women, this conveying in the film suppressed sexual desires due to his mother controlling him. When Marion suggest that Norman put his mother in a mental institution he becomes very defensive, he says "Well? You meant well? People always mean well, they cluck their thick tongues and shake their heads and suggest so very delicately that......it isn't as if she were a maniac, a raving thing... it's just that...  sometimes she goes a little mad. We all go a little mad sometimes. Haven't  you?" . At this point it's obvious to the audience that Norman's character is insane and the audience can assume that later on in the film something will happen to Marion based on this conversation.

4. What is the nature of our engagement with the story or characters?

In the beginning of the film we able to understand why Marion steels money from her job, but still does not justify her actions, and not much sympathy is felt until her actual murder.However Norman Bates character is well developed when the first time the audience meets him to all the way at the end of the.When Norman first sits down with Marion he comes off as very wired, but polite. In addition Norman's soft-spoken and timid personalty makes seem harmless, as Marion asks "Do you go out with friends", he responds with "A boy's best friend is his mother", he also goes on to explain how his father died and his mother had to take care of him and since she is now ill he has the responsibility to take care of his mother.Here we find the audience finds compassion for Norman, he hasn't had normal or healthy life due to his past circumstances and from the illness of his mother.The audiences impressions of him later turns creepy and Norman's words begin to have double meaning.Norman says"Were all in our private traps, calmed in them and none of us can never get out, we scratch and claw, but only at the air, only at each other, .. we never budge an inch". This sounds very similar to how Norman murder's Marion. Marion walks into the hotel, a trap, and she is murdered in the shower, as she is stabbed she yells and claws at the air but can not run away or get out.

5. Discuss the casting and the nature of the relationships explored in the film's narrative and themes.
The casting of the film had a major role on how it developed the story.The original Norman Bates from the novel was suppose to be a man who was over-weight, long untamed hair and overall  not put together and ungroomed. However this would have been extremely obvious when this character would have been first introduced, the audience would be able to acknowledge right away that he was the real murderer and it would have quite evident by his appearance he was crazy. This would have not given the surprising and startling amazing ending that the film had. This was a major factor in also captivating the audience, as we are lead to believe one person is guilty, it are even more stunned when we discover that we were wrong the entire time of watching the film. One of the themes in this film includes a very harsh perception of karma during the conversation with Norman and Marion, Norman mentions that people always walk into traps, Marion response with "Sometimes we deliberately step in those traps". This explaining that Marion had deserved what happen to her because she had "deliberately" stole money and tried to get away with it.