Freud's Psychoanalysis of the Film "Psycho"
Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most outstanding filmmakers of the 20th century. He was born in 1899 in Leytonstone, East London. In 1920, Hitchcock obtained a full-time job designing film titles. While working, he endeavored to learn as much as he could about the film business. Within 3 years of starting his job at the studio, Hitchcock became an assistant director and, in 1925, a director. In a career spanning six decades, Hitchcock made 53 films, the best of which are at once suspenseful, exciting, disturbing, funny and romantic. The so-called ‘master of suspense’ pioneered many of the techniques of the thriller genre, and remains highly influential to this day. He was one of the first directors to portray psychological processes in film narrative. During much of Hitchcock’s career, Freud’s ideas were dominant, and although Hitchcock was skeptical of psychoanalysis, Freudian concepts and motifs recur in many of his films.
Hitchcock’s films usually centre on either murder or espionage, with deception, mistaken identities, and chase sequences complicating and enlivening the plot. Three main themes predominate in Hitchcock’s films. The most common is that of the innocent man who is mistakenly suspected or accused of a crime and who must then track down the real perpetrator in order to clear himself. Examples of films having this theme include The Lodger, Strangers on a Train, I Confess, To Catch a Thief, The Wrong Man, and Frenzy. The second theme is that of the guilty woman who enmeshes a male protagonist and ends up either destroying him or being saved by him; examples of this theme include Blackmail, Notorious, Rebecca, Vertigo, and Marnie. The third theme is that of the (frequently psychopathic) murderer whose identity is established during the working out of the plot; examples of this theme include Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, and Psycho.
Hitchcock’s films always have close relationship with Freud’s psychoanalysis. Through the devices of suspense
Hitchcock’s films usually centre on either murder or espionage, with deception, mistaken identities, and chase sequences complicating and enlivening the plot. Three main themes predominate in Hitchcock’s films. The most common is that of the innocent man who is mistakenly suspected or accused of a crime and who must then track down the real perpetrator in order to clear himself. Examples of films having this theme include The Lodger, Strangers on a Train, I Confess, To Catch a Thief, The Wrong Man, and Frenzy. The second theme is that of the guilty woman who enmeshes a male protagonist and ends up either destroying him or being saved by him; examples of this theme include Blackmail, Notorious, Rebecca, Vertigo, and Marnie. The third theme is that of the (frequently psychopathic) murderer whose identity is established during the working out of the plot; examples of this theme include Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, Rear Window, and Psycho.
Hitchcock’s films always have close relationship with Freud’s psychoanalysis. Through the devices of suspense