A Filmmaker's Guide to: "American Psycho" (2000)

In this chapter of ‘the filmmaker’s guide’ we are going to explore some of the films that have changed our outlook of the possibilities in cinema in some way, shape or form. These can include, but are not limited to: revolutionary cinematography, narratives that challenge the social structure and the common view, trademark styles of auter cinema, brilliant adaptations of novels and other works, films of philosophical value and films that touch our hearts and souls with their incredible underlying messages and morals. Within each of the films in this chapter there is a certain something that makes them special and a certain something that makes them linger long after we have watched them for the first time. Lasting impressions are difficult to create, but I think that the films we will briefly touch on in this chapter are some of the films we will never ever forget.

American Psycho (2000) dir. by Mary Harron

Mary Harron’s epic psychodrama that would become one of Christian Bale’s most recognised characters after Christopher Nolan’s Batman, seemed to create as much appreciation as it did outrage. Though the range of Christian Bale’s acting is normally rated on its constant greatness, this one has to be one of his most incredible on-screen performances because of the way in which he completely recreates what we have previously known about him up to this point. During the 90s, Bale was pretty much the romantic figure of high drama, some may even remember him as an early teenager in the Spielberg epic war drama “Empire of the Sun” based on the novel of the same name. But the novel to “American Psycho” by the criminally good Bret Easton Ellis became one of the most iconic roles for the blooming British Actor. This was mostly due to the fact that the performance was so iconic, so pristine and polished that to this day, it is still difficult to associate Bateman with all that he was away from the world of businessmen and paycheques.

Sources state that Christian Bale’s performance of Patrick Bateman was partly, if not mostly, based on the all-American action hero actor, Tom Cruise. I think this may be an over-simplification and Bale’s performance may have been a lot more than that. The difficulty in portraying this duplicity was not the difference between the two personalities he had to embody but in the reality that he had to make the audience believe that yes, they were actually just the same person and the personalities were not actually that different at all. This was done so well that by the end of the movie, there are still debates twenty years’ later of whether the whole thing just happened in Bateman’s head or not. The confession scene being cited as one of the best scenes in the entire film.

The confession scene is different than most of the other, more active scenes in the film. This is because most of this scene does not rely on acting but rather on pristine cinematography. The random cuts that are spliced in to show us various sections of a room filled with similar, but slightly different and messier people than Bateman. The fact that Bateman believes that he is superior is basically shown through the cinematography as a POV shot on to these happier, more careless folk compared to the cut backs towards the stern-looking almost emotionless and apathetic Bateman. All in all, this scene shows us everything that the movie’s action sequences tried to display and then takes all of our beliefs about what happened in the film and mixes them up on the spot. We are left wondering where, when, why and how - and that is ultimately the greatest thing about this medium of entertainment. We can watch something for hours on end and still have questions about what happened.

There are no more barriers to cross. All I have in common with the uncontrollable and the insane, the vicious and the evil, all the mayhem I have caused and my utter indifference toward it, I have now surpassed. My pain is constant and sharp and I do not hope for a better world for anyone; in fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis. My punishment continues to elude me, and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself; no new knowledge can be extracted from my telling. This confession has meant nothing.

- Patrick Bateman, American Psycho (2000)