Psycho: Voyeurism

Many of the shots in Psycho have a very voyeuristic look to them. Frequently, there are long, uncut shots of characters alone in what would normally be private moments. For example, in the very beginning of the film the camera pans down and looks through the window of the hotel room that Sam and Marianne are in.

Another example, is when Marianne is packing her things when she is about to leave Phoenix with the $40,000. Also, when Marianne is driving there are long shots of her contemplating the things that have happened to her in the film. She also plays out conversations between certain characters in the film, but it is not known if these are imaginary or if they are the actual conversations that the characters are having. This is another example of voyeurism, as the car is typically a private place for some people, but the audience gets to see every bit of it including her thoughts. This technique goes along with the theme of spying/voyeurism in the film. Hitchcock successfully uses this idea of spying, and lack of privacy to make the audience uncomfortable, as many of the other techniques were aimed to make the audience uncomfortable. I think this, along with a few other things, is what makes this film “scary.” It’s scary that these people lack privacy, because privacy is typical a common thing for regular people. The amount of spying in the film makes everyone uneasy, as privacy is something that is usually valued.