This documentary may well not make it to your local cinema (it was released in 2006), but the NY Times did a review here yesterday. Premise of the movie:

If you embrace the notion that Hollywood is literally a “dream factory,” then Freud stands as a proto movie critic who taught us how to decipher the hidden meanings of its celluloid fantasies. In “The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema,” the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek subjects more than 40 mostly classic films, by directors ranging from Chaplin to Hitchcock, to psychoanalytic scrutiny. We need movies because they hold the clues to our true selves, Mr. Zizek argues in a wildly entertaining, digressive lecture packed with juicy clips that illustrate his points.

Here’s a taste of Zizek’s Freudian movie analysis:

Thus the Marx Brothers are the superego (Groucho), ego (Chico) and id (Harpo). In “Psycho,” the three levels of the Bates house — top floor, ground floor and basement — embody the same unholy trinity. In Mr. Zizek’s view, the raging male monsters of David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet” and “Lost Highway” personify pure phallic aggression released from the shadows of the unconscious. It is no coincidence that the song that encapsulates “Blue Velvet” is Roy Orbison’s eerie, impassioned “In Dreams.”

Because “the ultimate object of anxiety is a living father,” Mr. Zizek declares, Mr. Lynch’s walking nightmares are manifestations of “the father who doesn’t want to die.” Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader in “Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith,” he says, illustrates the same principle.

I’ve read before that Superego, Ego and Id represents Freud’s version of the Holy Trinity. Carl Jung expanded on that into four aspects: Body, Soul, Mind, Spirit. For the last few years, I’ve been playing around using five character archetypes — Protagonist, Nemesis, Attractor, Mentor, Trickster — as the basis not only for movie analysis, but also the story-crafting process. As a writer, there’s no right or wrong approach; only the one that works per the story you’re working on.

That said, I look at Psycho with Norman Bates as the story’s Protagonist. After all, he’s the character who goes through the most significant transformation, the emergence of his Violent Mother ‘taking over’ his consciousness.

              INT. NORMAN'S DETENTION ROOM - (NIGHT)

             The walls are white and plain. There is no window.

             There is no furniture except the straight-back chair in which             Norman sits, in the center of the room. The room has a quality             of no-whereness, of calm separation from the world.

             The Police Guard has placed the blanket on Norman's knees.             Norman, as we come upon him, is lifting the blanket, unfolding             it. His face, although without makeup and without the             surrounding softness of the wig, has a certain femininity             about it, a softness about the mouth and a kind of arch             womanliness about the brows.

             Calmly, Norman places the blanket about his shoulders, as if             it were a cashmere shawl. CAMERA REMAINS in a position so             that our view of Norman is a FULL ONE. When the shawl is in             position, and Norman is settled, we HEAR, OVER SHOT, the             voice of his mother, coming from the calm of his thoughts.

                                   MOTHER'S VOICE (O.S.)                       It's sad... when a mother has to                       speak the words that condemn her own                       son... but I couldn't allow them to                       believe that I would commit murder.                            (A pause)                       They'll put him away now... as I                       should have... years ago. He was                       always... bad. And in the end, he                       intended to tell them I killed those                       girls... and that man. As if I could                       do anything except just sit and                       stare... like one of his stuffed                       birds.                            (A pause)                       Well, they know I can't even move a                       finger. And I won't. I'll just sit                       here and be quiet. Just in case they                       do... suspect me.

             A fly buzzes close, and then continues buzzing and flying             about Norman's face.

                                   MOTHER'S VOICE (V.O.)                       They're probably watching me.  Well,                       let them. Let them see what kind of                       a person I am.                            (A pause, as the fly                            lights on Norman's                            hand)                       I'm not going to swat that fly. I                       hope they are watching. They'll see...                       they'll see... and they'll know...                       and they'll say... 'why, she wouldn't                       even harm a fly...'

             Norman continues to gaze ahead into nothing.