Originals vs. Remakes

Originals vs. Remakes

In this assignment, I will be evaluating a film from its original release to its remake and the contrast between them. The film which I will be analysing is the original version of Psycho which was made in 1960, directed by Alfred Hitchcock vs. Psycho the remake which was made 38 years later in 1998 and directed by Gus Van Sant. I will be evaluating both films - talking about the relationship between the films, their production contexts with reference to detailed illustrative examples and considering the production contexts and the influencing factors of the film.

Psycho is about a woman who appears to be having an affair or secret love encounter with a man whom encourages them to meet at hotels, spend the night together and flee in the morning separately as if they’re strangers from their past life. One of the main characters, Marion Crane, who plays the woman, the pro and antagonist starts off her day as normal, at work as a phoenix secretary and embezzles $40.000 for her employers client after he blatantly flirts with her and puts her out of ease, she makes a conscious decision to take the money and go on the run and checks into the Bates Motel and what soon revels itself as a deadly trap led on by fate.

Both films begin with Marion Crane, the lead actress, at work in her secretarial job, flees after receiving the money and heads on to find her new life with her foot on the gas.

One illustrative technique which is obvious from the beginning is the picture quality, the original is in black and white picture and the 1998 remake is in colour. Already this would defer your understanding of certain things as some are interpretive and others are obvious to see. An example of this is Marion’s facial expressions when she is driving the car at night and is falling into a deep sleep and we can clearly see her expression in the remake as the tones of her skin and her features as well as her accessories are all factors which help us depict and understand exactly what is happening; whereas in the original, there are too many dark hues to really understand exactly what we are supposed to focus on and the rain becomes unclear and adds some confusion whilst watching so the remake wins in terms of allowing the audience to capture and understand the action in certain parts of the film. However, I do feel like there was a lack of expression from the actress despite it being in full colour I think that maybe that factor was taken for granted and allowed there to be less emotion shown because again, taking the car scene where she is falling asleep, being blinded by oncoming traffic then coincidentally finding the Bates Motel is one of the main parts of the story because essentially this is the part where the terror begins and her fate here is now out of her hands and I feel that in the black and white film, the surprise and the sheer exhaustion was expressed by the actress in the original – as well as the uncertainty of staying at the bates motel was obvious and allowed it to be the dramatic irony as once you have learnt what comes to happen at the Bates Motel, you learn that there should have been more of a deep feeling of curiosity, suspicion and doubt but in the remake, all we see is the character looking slightly puzzled but okay with the idea of staying at this motel and doesn’t show any inclining emotional concern whatsoever.

Another illustrative factor is the sound quality from the black and white quality to the colour quality film. The sound quality in the black and white film is more of a fuzzy and muffled quality, however it allows you to concentrate and although this wasn’t the aim when the film was being made, it has work as an effective technique and adds a classical touch to the film. The sound quality in the remake isn’t used effectively by the cast and this is because the actors seem to lack expression in their speech and they aren’t heard as well, whereas unlike in the black and white version, the sound is louder, whether that may be automatic or an accident, it is clearer in the sense that you can feel the tension in their voices more and really capture the essence of their emotion.

The screenplay of Mr Bates was at its highest point in the black and white version of the film and I think that the odd nature of Mr Bates was captures from the original film and I also think that he was strange in a natural way and was able to pick up the peculiar nature of Mr Bates character in the film and within the remake i thought the acting was a little off and forced compared to the original with its authentic nature.