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Psycho is about Patrick Batemen, a business man who fights to control his psychopathic alter ego. However he is not any ordinary psychopath. He is has completely lost the feeling of being a human person and has desensitised himself from the atrocities he is committing and puts a social 'mask' on so he seems like a normal upstanding member of society. We are narrated by Patrick himself (Christian Bale) for portions of the film where he explains about his mask of sanity slipping as his nightly bloodlust starts to spill into his days.
Another interesting part of this
film is the fascination of the business cards. Each of the men in the
company has their own personalised business cards. Interestingly they
all come out of the same silver carry case with a very crisp and sharp snap.
This scene is incredibly well filmed because you start to want some really sexy
business cards as well. Each individual with a card each has theirs slightly
differently. Some have an 'egg shell' white finish or 'helvetica bold' type
face, but all of the cards look almost identical. This is where i started to
notice that all their hair cuts are the same.
After looking at the above buisness
card Patrick starts to get really angry because someone has a better buisness
card than him, or has a better typeface than him. This is where Bale really
captures the psycho by getting really angry and obsessed over a trivial issue.
You keep thinking he'll snap in a public place and go on a rampage but the
beauty of this film is that it divides yet blends the two sides of his life
that he leaves.
Bale really makes this character
a believable nutcase but at the same time he could be any other
normal businessman on a lunch date with some friends. I think the
point the film tries to make here is that anyone could be a closet serial
murdered. Anyone you see on the street may appear to be normal, have a normal
life, family, house, 4 door car etc. but underneath it all lies an evil
murdered. Society casts a veil over our eyes with social norms
and etiquette which stop people openly acting insane. It is suggesting
that this veil isnt real, this ruse isnt actually how people really
feel.
Buisness Man/Psychopathic Murderer.
One of the best parts of
this film is how he gets his victims. So meticulously planned and thought out because hes a creature of habit and obsession he does the same thing every time He brings them back to his place and puts
on some 'Hewy Lewis' or 'Genesis' and starts talking in long and intricate
depth about the sounds and textures the album conveys as well as their talent
as a group etc. Now all the while he is busy preparing himself. The
most unnerving thing about it is his smile while he does it, showing
a complete lack of remorse or value of human life.
9/10