10 Films About Voyeurism

blowup As its name suggests, the camera lens has almost irrevocably associated itself with the human eye. Every angle, track and close-up directs our attention. We watch who we€™re told to watch, whether we like it or not. Nevertheless, as the camera lingers through a bedroom window, we are the breathless accomplice in the shadows. Cinema has made voyeurs of us all. For a film-maker, it's the ultimate tease. After presenting us with the forbidden, they then take an impish pride in admonishing our lack of restraint. We reach out for a reward but receive a rap on the knuckles. An audience can understandably grow uncomfortable with this trap - yet we keep coming back for more.The rise of reality TV (or rather, a newly-emerged form of exhibitionism) has simultaneously robbed and reinforced voyeurism of its immediate sexual implications, with cinema quick to exaggerate its extremes. A world of hidden cameras may not lead to 'The Truman Show', nor Big Brother to 'My Little Eye', but both serve as cautionary tales, the perils of curiosity. So dim the lights, grab a pair of binoculars and join me, won€™t you, as I unveil before your very eyes ten of the finest films to watch the watcher.

10. Psycho

bates After sharing a rather tense supper with motel owner Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), fugitive Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) retires to shower in her room. Bates removes a painting in his office to reveal a peephole peering directly into Marion in a state of undress. He narrows his eyes, returns the frame and looks to his left, as though beckoned by his mother€What makes Bates so compelling in this brief routine is the nonchalance with which he spies on his victim. His expression gives nothing away (obviously, there's a clue in the title), as though the pause, the skyward glance and the terrible act before him are all somehow beyond his control. In sharing his view into the adjacent room, the camera makes us complicit; for a few seconds, we're forced to indulge in his curiosity. This scene was later embellished in Gus van Sant€™s €˜shot-for-shot€™ remake; wherein Bates (now played by Vince Vaughn) could be heard unzipping his flies and, erm, sticking it to the original€™s strait-laced sensibilities. Ever since the publication of Robert Bloch€™s source novel, the wordplay in both characters' surnames has been the subject of mass debate, until van Sant€™s vanity project added a bit of colour- and removed all subtlety.

 
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Yorkshireman (hence the surname). Often spotted sacrificing sleep and sanity for the annual Leeds International Film Festival. For a sample of (fairly) recent film reviews, please visit whatsnottoblog.wordpress.com.