My Review of Vertigo (1958)

 

Written by Alec Coppel And Samuel A. Taylor

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Scottie (to Judy): "One final thing I have to do and then I'll be free of the past."

Ah yes, the greatest movie. Or at least one of them. Or more realistically, one of the greatest movies from a certain director. A director whose work I'll gradually review  for this blog, bit by bit and mostly at random if I'm being honest.

This thriller certainly is up there with some of Hitchcock's finest as we focus on a retired detective named John Ferguson (James Stewart) or Scottie as he seems to be referred to for most of this movie. With a crippling fear of heights and suffering from vertigo, the lead case of this movie would prove to be his undoing.

Assigned to keep an eye on the beautiful Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak) by her husband and Scottie's former colleague, Gavin (Tom Hellmore), its not long before Scottie and Madeleine fall in love with one a other and embark on an affair. It's also even shorter before Madeleine falls to her death at a bell tower and a traumatized Scottie finds himself sectioned as a result of her "suicide".

Attempting to adjust to the real world again, John couldn't let go of his time with Madeleine. This certainly became apparent when Scottie ended up stalking and coercing mystery woman Judy (Kim Novak again) into a relationship. It also didn't help that because Judy looked like Madeleine, Scottie demanded that she completely transform into the dead woman, right down to the hairstyle.

Even before the big reveal, I have to admit that watching Scottie completely try and mold Judy into another version of Madeleine was unsettling to watch. Judy seemed to alternate between being genuinely frightened of Scottie to being besotted with him, which I guess did something for her own role in his grief and madness.

However Scottie working out that Judy had been Madeleine all the time and that Gavin had actually murdered his wife and paid Judy off once her usefulness was outlived did pack a punch. The confrontation at the bell tower was brilliant done and that final scene was a genuine shocker to behold.

- There is definitely a noticeable age difference between the leads with Novak being nearly thirty years younger than Stewart. I do wonder why they didn't cast actors closer to each other, age wise.

- Loved the use of certain colors to highlight flashbacks between the main characters in the movie.

- Despite it's reputation now, this was a poorly received movie upon it's initial release.

- Chronology: Late 1950's setting in California.

I'm not sure I would say that Vertigo is the greatest movie of all time but it feels like it's an important one and definitely one any aspiring film student or cinema buff should see at least once in their lifetime. Both Stewart and Novak are incredible to watch.

Rating: 9 out of 10