Intertextuality

Intertextuality

Intertexuality refers to the visual references between two films where one film has ‘borrowed’ aspects from the other which audience members may be able to recognize.

Psycho is a very famous thriller and the opening sequence creates a lot of meaning and sets a pace of the film. The audience may recognize certain camera angles, aspects of Mise en scene, and snippets of sound or methods of editing in some films that you have seen in others.

In addition it is more commonly known for its famous and thrilling scene in where the woman is viciously murdered in the bath and this scene has been recreated many times.

Here are many examples which show how intertextuality was used, where the scene from ‘psycho’ was used in other film but interpreted differently.

What lies beneath:

'what lies beneath' was released in 2001 and it had borrowed few aspects from 'psycho', the scene were we see a man take the woman to the bathroom and this location for a murder, it was purposely used so the audience will notice the similar pattern through the use of certain props for example the shower head being turned on as the woman lays dead was a particular similarity.

Fatal attraction:

In 1987 the film 'fatal attraction was released and in addition to ‘what lies beneath’ this film had also borrowed aspects of the film ‘psycho’, one scene consists of an outbreak in the bathroom were two men are picture fighting and being violent, the fact that it is location of this scene was in the bathroom, now become a thriller convention as its famous debut in psycho proved to be popular amongst the audience who will associate the scene with that film.

he stepfather:

Moreover the film stepfather was used scenes which were reacted from the film ‘psycho’, were a women is being chased up the stairs into the bathroom by a man with a knife, this shows where again a murder occurs in this scene therefore this shows the aspect of death and thriller associated with a bathroom scene. This scene has been repeatedly used in many different thriller films. This is an abstract and popular decision as it most definitely created tension and suspense.

Farha