Psycho - Parlor Scene

Analysis Directions - View the clip, giving careful consideration to the film techniques used. Fill in the given rubric according to your observations. Once you have done this, write a group commentary about the clip, using the details from the rubric for evidence.

Look at lighting, sound, editing technique, camera work, framing, and mise-en-scene. In this particular scene, cast a critical eyes towards symbolism, framing, and resulting character development.

- I've caused you some trouble.
- No, uh...

Mother...
My mother, uh...

What is the phrase?

She isn't quite
herself today.

You shouldn't have bothered. I really
don't have that much of an appetite.

Oh, I'm sorry.

I wish you could apologize
for other people.

Don't worry about it.

But as long as you've fixed
the supper, we may as well eat it.

It, uh... It might be, uh, nicer
and warmer in the office.

Well, it stopped
raining.

Uh, eating in an office
is just... just too officious.

- I have the parlor back here.
- All right.

- Sit down.
- Oh, thank you.

You're very kind.

It's all for you.
I'm not hungry. Go ahead.

You... You eat like a bird.

And you'd know,
of course.

No, not really.

Anyway, I hear the expression
"Eats like a bird"...

is really a fal...
false... falsity.

Because birds really
eat a tremendous lot.

But I really don't know anything about
birds. My hobby is stuffing things.

You know, taxidermy.

And I guess I'd just rather
stuff birds because...

I hate the look of beasts
when they're stuffed.

You know,
foxes and chimps.

Some people even stuff dogs and cats,
but, oh, I can't do that.

I think only birds
look well stuffed because...

Well, because they're kind
of passive to begin with.

It's a strange hobby.
Curious.

- Uncommon too.
- Oh, I imagine so.

And it's... it's not as expensive
as you'd think. It's cheap, really.

You know, needles
and thread, sawdust.

The chemicals are the only
thing that, that cost anything.

A man should have a hobby.

Well, it's...
it's more than a hobby.

A hobby's supposed to
pass the time, not fill it.

Is your time so empty?

No. Uh...

Well, I run the office...

and tend the cabins
and grounds...

and do little, uh,
errands for my mother...

the ones she allows
I might be capable of doing.

Do you go out with friends?

Well, a boy's best friend
is his mother.

You've never had an empty moment
in your entire life, have you?

- Only my share.
- Where are you going?

I didn't mean to pry.

I'm looking for
a private island.

What are you
running away from?

- Why do you ask that?
- No.

People never run away
from anything.

The rain didn't last long,
did it? You know what I think?

I think that...

we're all in
our private traps,

clamped in them, and none of us
can ever get out.

We scratch and...
and claw,

but only at the air,
only at each other.

And for all of it,
we never budge an inch.

Sometimes we deliberately
step into those traps.

I was born in mine.
I don't mind it anymore.

Oh, but you should.
You should mind it.

Oh, I do, but I say I don't.

You know, if anyone ever talked
to me the way I heard...

the way she spoke to you...

Sometimes when she talks
to me like that,

I feel I'd like to go up there and
curse her and, and leave her forever.

Or at least defy her.

But I know I can't.
She's ill.

She sounded strong.

No, I mean... ill.

She had to raise me all by herself,
after my father died.

I was only five and it,
it must've been quite a strain for her.

I mean, she didn't have to go to work or
anything. He left her a little money.

Anyway, a few years ago,
Mother met this man.

And he... he talked her
into building this motel.

He could have talked her
into anything.

And when he died too, it was
just too great a shock for her.

And the way
he died...

I guess it's nothing
to talk about while you're eating.

Anyway, it was just too great
a loss for her. She had nothing left.

Except you.

Well, a son is a poor substitute
for a lover.

Why don't you go away?

To a private island,
like you?

No... not like me.

I couldn't do that.
Who'd look after her?

She'd be alone up there.

The fire would go out.

It'd be cold and damp
like a grave.

If you love someone, you don't do that
to them, even if you hate them.

You understand, I...
I don't hate her.

I hate what she's become.
I hate the illness.

Wouldn't it be better
if you put her... some place?

You mean an institution?
A madhouse?

People always call
a madhouse "some place," don't they?

Put her in "some place."

I'm sorry. I didn't mean it
to sound uncaring.

What do you know
about caring?

Have you ever seen the inside
of one of those places?

The laughing and the tears...

and the cruel eyes
studying you.

My mother there?

But she's harmless.

She's as harmless as one
of those stuffed birds.

I am sorry.

I only felt...
It seems she's hurting you.

- I meant well.
- People always mean well.

They cluck their thick tongues
and shake their heads and suggest...

oh, so very delicately...

Of course,
I've suggested it myself.

But I hate to even think about it.
She needs me.

It... It's not as if she were
a... a maniac, a raving thing.

She...

She just goes
a little mad sometimes.

We all go a little mad
sometimes.

Haven't you?

Yes.

Sometimes just one time
can be enough. Thank you.

Thank you, "Norman."

Norman.

Oh, you're not... you're not
going back to your room already?

I'm very tired.

And I have a long drive tomorrow,
all the way back to Phoenix.

Really?

I stepped into a private trap
back there...

and I'd like to go back and try
to pull myself out of it...

before it's too late
for me too.

Are you sure you wouldn't like
to stay a little while longer?

- I mean, just for talk.
- Oh, I'd like to, but...

All right. Well,
I'll see you in the morning.

I'll bring you some breakfast,
all right?

- What time?
- Very early. Dawn.

All right, Miss, uh...

- Crane.
- Crane. That's it.

Good night.