I really have no idea how to sum up the brilliance and the intricacy of Hitchcock’s work in Vertigo and Psycho, so I’m just going to begin by talking about my reactions. Those movies were CRAZY! After Vertigo, my mind was all fireworks and confusion. I had to watch the last thirty seconds twice to fully grasp what happened and come to terms with the abrupt ending. Even then, I was so enraptured by the story. The entire night I kept turning to Krystal, in an effort to make peace with the ending, but each time all I could muster was a “Dude…that was insane.” And after watching Psycho I was equally if not more affected. That movie really was barbarically and supremely sick. I watched Psycho alone in my room and my poor pillow was beat up during all the high suspense scenes.

Hitchcock movies really are like roller coasters—especially the pacing. Throughout most his movies the audience sits in anticipation, slowly moving forward until the plot twists suddenly and everything changes with one swift swoop of the camera. In Vertigo, James Stewart’s character, Ferguson, spent a good portion of the movie gathering clues and following Kim Novak’s character in his car. Being from Northern California, I loved all of the driving scenes because they reminded me of home, but besides seeing the beauty of old San Francisco, these scenes only advanced the plot minutely. Looking back onto my notes, I see that from 18 minutes into the film to about 43 minutes into the film, Ferguson was merely observing Madeline and was being absorbed by her and Mr. Elster’s trickery. This slow build-up of silence and inaction then reaches its climax when the plot becomes a romance. Hitchcock emphasizes this climax in the scene where the two characters finally kiss. As they move closer the music grows more intense, until finally their lips meet, the music crescendos, and waves crash violently in the background (1:05:08). The pace of the movie slows down again after Ms. Elster’s death and Hitchcock slowly and carefully illustrates Ferguson’s sadness. Then suddenly, almost haphazardly (but not because he’s Hitchcock and he’s intentionally brilliant) Hitchcock reveals the very short clip of Mr. Elster throwing his wife off the tower and the plot is changed completely (1:39:09). In a moment you realize everything you thought was reality was manufactured and false. But then, the moment’s over and once again the plot slows down. Hitchcock focuses on the tribulations of their romance: Ferguson’s inability to get over Madeline Elster and his desire to transform Judy into Madeline. Plot-wise the portion of this movie is relatively uninteresting, especially when compared to the murders and deception early in the movie. Then once again Hitchcock stuns you in the last ten seconds of the film when Judy frightened by the sudden appearance of the nun falls off the tower at Mission San Juan Capistrano. The End.

I can just imagine Hitchcock sitting in the theater watching the effects of his vicious pranks. As the plot slows down, the audience yawns and relaxes completely surrendering to the story. Then suddenly the plot changes, the audience gasps and Hitchcock chuckles basking in his success. He carefully and patiently waits for the most opportune moment to attack and I have to admit I gasped. My jaw dropped. I yelled at the television. I was completely fooled.

Despite my Vertigo experience, I went into Psycho with the same naiveté. I expected Hitchcock to thrill me, to make me nervous, but I didn’t expect to be genuinely scared. Furthermore, I knew the shower scene was waiting for me and I knew from reputation that it was a little scary, but I thought I could handle it. In actuality, nothing could prepare me for that scene. The scene begins in her perspective, with the camera looking up at the showerhead (00:40:45). Next the audience sees a dark figure approaching just a full four seconds before Marion does. For those four seconds, I wanted to scream out and warn her even though intellectually I knew her fate was sealed. In the next few moments, Jim Merod’s comment about Hitchcock’s pairing of suspense and sexuality is blatantly obvious. Marion’s nudity and sexuality seem to drive the killer. There is even one shot of her pelvis, that if not placed in this particular scene could have been used in Playboy magazine (00:41:15). Marion’s vulnerability adds to her sexuality and to her role as a victim.

One aspect I enjoyed in both Vertigo and Psycho was Hitchcock’s method of filming which put the audience in the perspective of the characters. He often did this by zooming up close to objects as if they were clues. These clues were not always significant. In the beginning scene of Psycho, Hitchcock includes a quick shot of the lunch Marion and Sam are eating in the hotel room (00:02:50). He uses this technique once more when Marion enters Norman’s parlor. As she looks around, Hitchcock includes quick snap shots of his stuffed birds (00:33:27). This places the audience in Marion’s mind and we see and feel her surprise and curiosity towards Norman’s strange hobby. This technique reminded me of the scene from Torn Curtain, we watched in class. In that scene, the camera zooms into different weapons as the woman decides how to kill this man. This technique reminds me of the game Clue. I feel like Hitchcock includes these images to make the audience feel as if they are detectives who are part of the story. Through this technique, Hitchcock gives the audience a perspective into the minds of the characters while also giving them a chance to solve the mystery and be a part of the story.

Of all the elements of Hitchcock’s genius, I was most impressed by his ability to capture me completely in the suspense of his stories. No matter how prepared I thought I was I couldn’t help but surrender completely to Hitchcock’s hypnosis. I want to watch them all!