(FILM REVIEW)

“A crime of feeling, not self-interest…”

How сould you make a great movie on a minimal budget? This was the goal set by the famous British, and later American, filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, master and pioneer of the suspense and psychological thriller.

The film is made in black and white, which gives it a noirish charm that, combined with Bernard Herrmann`s wonderfully strange string instrumental, provides the viewer with a delicious experience. Hitchcock himself said that 33% of the effect of watching the film belongs to the music.

The film is based on a screenplay by Joseph Stephan, based on Robert Bloch`s novel of the same name. The storyline follows the pattern of a classic detective. The modern viewer, of course, will have no trouble guessing who the villain is and who is the do-gooder one. But, nevertheless, the film contained details that later got applied as an artistic cliché. They were recognized as classics by film connoisseurs.

Also a common move to modern soap operas, but a fresh device since the 1960s was the construction of the narrative line from petty misdeeds to the most serious crimes (for example, from being late for work to a cold-blooded murder).

It is worth noting the fact that in this film, perhaps the first time in the history of cinema so many close-up shots were used. Such scenes became the key scenes in the plot development. The application of such technology allowed the film director to convey the emotional tension growing both in the character`s chest and aggravating the already growing anxiety of the viewer.

‘Psycho’ is a high quality and fascinating film proving that it is not always necessary to throw millions of dollars to score the success and the cult status of a film. ‘Psycho’ is a movie-classic that everyone should see! My rating is 9.5/10.