American Psycho is a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the first person by Patrick Bateman, a serial killer and Manhattan businessman. The book's graphic violence and sexual content generated a great deal of controversy before and after publication. A film adaptation starring Christian Bale was released in 2000. Above is the opening scene of the thriller.
This is a psychological thriller, where the opening sequence is so simple, in fact too simple which makes it very disturbing to watch almost immediately, even though he's just reciting his everyday morning routine he is going into a lot of depth about it which we, the audience, see as abnormal. As well as this, there is no tone in his voice or facial expression, showing he is very serious and likes things done very specifically and orderly, plus we learn that he pays very close attention to time. This isn't what your average male does in the morning which makes the character slightly creepy and unusual. From this we get the impression that if things do not go his way, it will ruin his whole day, as he is a perfectionist.
The first sound we hear is a piano which is peaceful; this introduces us to the character and is also used to indicate his personality. It can also represent his emotional journey and when we hear it further on in the film we will expect him to be there or be near. The piano supposedly puts him at ease. The sound used is a voiceover, this is to narrate, however it's in first person so it's telling us that the character who we are seeing is telling us this, or he is thinking it while he's doing his routine and we also get the impression it is a very important part of his day. We find this odd because when you're showering you don’t recite your routine, or know all the products that you use like the back of our hand, this makes us interested in the character and want to find out more. The peaceful music and monotone voice of the narrator gives a strange effect as its quite abnormal, and disturbing, but it still draws in the attention of the audience. The first thing he tells us is his name age and address, this tells us he is very formal and high class, probably a business man who’s quite successful, this is odd because it’s less likely for a successful person to be a ‘psycho’ stereotypically. Also when he starts speaking about alcohol “I always use an aftershave lotion with little or no alcohol because alcohol dries your face out and makes you look older” tells us that he is very knowledgeable about his products and how to keep himself looking fit.
The characters position in the fame is always centre, which makes him the main focus and puts all our attention on him. This tells us instantly he will play a big part in the film. Also it tells us he lives alone as there are no other family members present in the scene or any mess or signs of a female living there. As well as this we get the idea that he is very self-obsessed as it’s all about him, we get this impression from his morning workout and morning wash and beauty routine showing he values his appearance. From this we can conclude he is very vain. He looks at his reflection twice; once in the photo on the wall where a close up shot is used to show us his expressionless face and increase the attention of the audience. It’s also used to make us feel quite tense. Another close up shot is used while he is making himself look nice in the mirror in the bathroom, however this before this is a slow zoom in on his face, this is done to create suspense and to gives us an idea on the characters personality. This makes us very weary of the character because from his facial expression we get the feel that he has no emotions, he just has a cold gaze which make us feel slightly uncomfortable and fearful of this unusual character.
From the moment the character wakes up until the end of the opening scene, continuity cuts are used to make the scene appear natural and seamless, this makes us think that he is quite normal in the way he carries himself until we hear the voiceover. As well as this there are a lot of cuts from the products he uses while in the shower from the products to him washing himself. This tells us he may be a clean freak, and also his apartment is extremely clean especially for a male, which tells us he may have OCD. From this we learn that the character values cleanliness and hygiene. Also, that if you interfere with his routine he will be unhappy and it could possibly ruin his whole day.
Mirrors are used in the opening scene to reflect the soul and inner self of the character, they represent the darkness within and gives us an idea that he has some kind of split personality. Also while looking into the mirror the character ‘peels his face off’ and this could represent him having another identity or some kind of dark secret this makes the character seem mysterious and untrustworthy. As well as this we see that he is comfortable in his own skin as he’s wearing no clothes and his boxers are white, which resembles being pure and clean which coincides with the colour scheme of his house and how clean and orderly it is. The fact that he washes a lot and then wears white shows he may be washing away something, maybe his sins or possibly his past, or maybe he gets messy while he’s at ‘work’ and likes to rid himself of his guilt or bad memories. Or possibly he likes to hide under white clothes and products so that no one suspects him to be some kind of criminal, it could all be an act to fit in with ‘normal’ people.
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