The More Successful The Villain, The More Successful The Picture

One may agree with the comment “the more successful the villain, the more successful the picture” was stated by the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. The plots and those villains in Psycho and Rope could show how successful Hitchcock presents the suspense in his films. The statement means that Alfred Hitchcock could create suspensions in the films by creating successful villains. If the villains could successfully finish a crime, it is defined as a successful villain in the film. As Hitchcock believes the restoration of justice, he could tell these to the audiences through his films by creating the villains. In this essay, Psycho and Rope will be used to explain why “the more successful the villain, the more successful the picture”. 

In Psycho, Norman as a villain who suffers from a split personality that led him to commit murder. At the beginning of the film, no one knew that Norman was the villain, but Marion was because she stole $40000 from her boss. When she went to Bates Motel which runs by Norman and his mother, the suspension began. When someone went to kill Marion which we could only watch the outline of the female perpetrator, so she should be Norman’s mother. However, the truth is the perpetrator was a male and he is Norman. He dressed up as his mother to commit the murder. This villain created tension in the film. When the audience knew the perpetrator was Norman instead of his mother, the contrast between the characters was large. It made tension and suspension more successful. The most important thing in the film is Norman was caught which means that although Norman had a split personality, he committed murder and he needed to take responsibility for the crime. Restoration of justice could be shown from this scene. The classic scene of Psycho is the shower scene, Marion, the original rogue, was killed. The villain in the film changed to the perpetrator who commits the murder. When a new villain appears, it created a new tension for the film which can make the villain characteristics more powerful. Also, Norman was controlled by “mother” mind and it made the villain not that simple at all, that is why the nasty piece of work became a successful character in the film. It is a breakthrough in the classic plot in history. It is more successful the villain, the more successful the picture by changing the mood and personality of the villain, Norman. The comment “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture” can be shown in the film, Psycho, as the bad character successfully finish the crime, the villain was the success. The picture was a success because it created the tension and suspension in the film and the idea of restoration of justice could be brought out from the film through the plot of the film. Another film, Rope, can support the comment “The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture”, the reasons will be mentioned below. 

In Rope, the main characters, Brandon and Phillip, both are the villains in the film. As the main characters are the same as the villains in the film, it my make the story line easier to create tension through the reactions between them. At the beginning of the film, Brandon and Phillip committed murder for the idea “the art of murder”. They invited their friends to have a party and see if others can find out they committed murder or not. The reactions between the bad characters and other characters made the atmosphere so nervous which can create the suspensions in the film. Phillip looked so nervous when they discuss the art of murder between the guest, they wanted others to agree with the art of murder. However, they hide the truth that they have killed David. At the same time they tried to give them some hints that they had do the art of murder. It made the situation look so strange. This strange situation created the suspension in the film. The guests had many questions about the art of murder and why David was not here. The tension between the characters started when the party began. Also, there was not only one villain in the film, so it could make more tension by more bad characters. Moreover, Rupert found out Brandon and Phillip committed murder. The crime was revealed at the end. They successfully commit murder but was revealed by Rupert, the restoration of justice was shown again. Therefore, the picture was a success. As the definition of a successful picture mentioned at the beginning was creating the suspension in the film and can show the idea of restoration of justice. Both Brandon and Phillip could create the tension and show the idea of restoration of justice as the villains in Rope. The suspension was created between the party of the villain and other characters. The idea of restoration of justice was brought out by Rupert. As a result, Rope supported the comment “the more successful the villain, the more successful the picture”. 

To conclude with, in both of Rope and Psycho, the villains could successfully finish the crime at the beginning but was revealed by others which match the definition of a successful picture in the thesis statement, there were some tension and suspension in the films and the idea of restoration of justice can be brought out in the films. In Psycho, Norman as the bad character who killed Marion and Mrs Bates successfully create the tension for the film and Sam subdues him to bring out the idea of restoration of justice. In Rope, Brandon and Phillip as the villains who successfully killed David and performed the art of murder create the suspension in the film and Rupert revealed their crime which can bring out the idea of restoration of justice too. For that reason, one can agree with the comment, “the more successful the villain, the more successful the picture” was stated by the Master of Suspense, Alfred Hitchcock.