If Alfred Hitchcock had died in 1957, at the age of 58, he would still rank as one of the greatest directors of all time. At this point he would have given the world such masterpieces as The 39 Steps (1935), Rebecca (1940), Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Notorious (1946), Strangers on a Train (1951), Rear Window (1954), and The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956). Lucky for us Hitchcock did not die, and in 1958 he began a six year period that marks the greatest single set of works by any director in cinema history. The Master of Suspense produced four indisputable masterpieces in Vertigo (1958), North by Northwest (1959), Psycho (1960), and the Birds (1963).

Vertigo was based on the French novel D’Entre les Morts by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. Like a number of previous Hitchcock works Vertigo is an example of turning pulp fiction into art. It took four writers, in addition to Hitchcock himself, 15 months to get the script green lit by Paramount.

It is said that truly great art comes truly great suffering. During pre-production Alfred Hitchcock was diagnosed with a hernia and spent the first night of his life in hospital. Two months later he was back in hospital, this time having surgery for kidney stones. It is also said that behind every great man is an even greater woman. In Hitchcock’s case this woman was his wife, Alma Hitchcock. Near the completion of the film Alma, his soul mate and muse, was diagnosed with cancer; this sent Hitchcock into a spell of hysteria. A man who so famously feared losing control had found the person he loved the most in a position he was powerless to help.

The film stars Jimmy Stewart (although Hitchcock first wanted Cary Grant having felt that Stewart was too old, too thin and not neurotic enough) and Kim Novak (though Vera Miles was originally cast but had to drop out when she became pregnant). Upon its release the film, budgeted at $2.5 million, grossed a moderate 3.2 million. Although it garnered two Oscar nominations it faired only so-so critically. Over the years though the film has become a cultural icon and has been 'remade' numerous times. Elements of the film can be seen in films such as High Anxiety (1978), Basic Instinct (1992), The Age of Innocence (1993), Twelve Monkeys (1995), and practically every Brain DePalma film.

Vertigo is a genre hybrid mixing the genres of the Detective Mystery Thriller, Romance Melodrama and Horror. Some would say it is also autobiographical as Scotty essentially plays god, remaking Judy into Madeleine. It is also, like every Hitchcock film, self reflexive. The film embodies little of the trademark Hitchcock humor though it does contain great horror. It deals with the failure and exploitation of the instinct to love and heal in which the recovery of innocence depends. In addition to this the film deals with such dark themes as scopophilia, voyeurism necrophilia and the effect of the past on the present - a common Hitchcock trait.

AMBIGUITY

Hitchcock pioneered the use of morally ambiguous characters in cinema. Vertigo is no exception and marks an important step in the reversal of roles that Hitchcock ultimately achieves in Frenzy (1972). In Frenzy the hero is despicable while the villain is likeable; this has become common place today - Darth Vadar, Dirty Harry, Hans Gruber, Jules and Vincent are only a few examples. In Vertigo Hitchcock creates a film filled with moral ambiguous characters that are more negative than positive. For instance Jimmy Stewart's character, Scottie, has abandoned the world of law to become a policeman, which he then abandons to become a detective. He falls in love with the object of detection, a women who he believes is his friends wife; he therefore breaks both the professional and friendship codes. He is not a good detective - he fails in following Madeleine, discovering the truth about Gavin, and the about Judy. He doesn't remain objective as a detective and instead becomes part of the story. He is tricked twice. he is responsible for three deaths. He molds Judy into Madeleine in a manner that denotes lust and obsession not love. He has vertigo. He is a scopophilic and a voyeur. He has a nervous breakdown where he is in a state of suspension, this relates to his identity crisis (which is why he has so many names in the film - a Hitchcock trait). He is not honest with Midge. He is naive, gullible, full of self doubt and he wears a corset. On the positive side he does solve the mystery, faces himself and is ultimately refashioned by women. Kim Novak's character is also loaded on the negative, she is a masochist. She allows herself to be molded by both Scottie and Gavin. She is the object of gaze and allows it. She is the mistress of a married man. She too has a crisis of identity (again a number of names). She tricks the detective Scottie by hiding in plain sight. She lies (this is way she is usually standing in front of a open doorway, with a lot happening behind it. This reprsents the secret shes hiding). On the positive side she confesses in a letter but then doesn't send it which is again negative. Midge too is negative, she is not sexually attractive, paints a joke painting to hurt Scottie, is jealous and a voyeur. She is smart and professional though. Gavin Elster, the old college buddy, yearns for the past, has a mistress and tempts both Scottie and Judy; he is therefore the devil. He is however good looking, and a cultured business man. The four above characters are all ambivelous in some way, most clearly seen with Madeleine/Judy. This creates a perception problem for the audience. The audience therefore have Vertigo.

THE OPENING

The opening of a film is conventionally the first method of structuring a work. Hitchcock uses it spectacularly himself in Rear Window; The camera glides into an apartment, past various visual indicators, such as ornaments and photographs that expose aspects of the occupants' life. The camera finally comes to rest on a sleeping James Stewart, constricted by a leg cast and confined to a wheelchair. This opening scene provides the viewer with all the necessary information about the protagonist, his character, his career, his environment, and his current predicament. The opening/title sequence of Vertigo however does none of this. We first see a a women we don't know who she is or where we are. This woman isn't Kim Novak and in fact we never see her again This type of filmmaking is extremely, it disoriegntates the audience. We fall into her eye and then into a series of spirals. The representational turns into graphics. There is no direction or stability here; The colors don't match. Only the motif of the spiral is constant. The films opening begins with a white screen - this is self reflexive as it represents an empty frame onto with things are put. We are then introduced to Scottie, he fails in an attempt to catch somebody because of his own inability to jump. He is responsible for the death of a police officer. He is not in control. Again we see the spiral, here with the use of the tracking in, dolly out 'vertigo' shot. The spiral motif connects the opening with the title sequence. We leave Scottie hanging for his life and pick him up at Midge's; we have no idea how he get off? This happens a number of times throughout the film, though the two most pronounced stops are after the two main deaths. Some people have complained that because of this the film is unbelievable or that it makes no sense. Although Hitchcock didn't explain everything that happened in his films they were never unbelievable. For instance he often relayed on chance happenings to begin the plot, most clearly in Strangers on a Train. Here I think Hitchcock creates a dreamlike feel. We've all had dreams where things move forward even thought they aren't explained. You wake up and think hang on a minute that doesn't work. This is further emphasized by the look of the film. Hitchcock used a number of different lens, diffusions, green hues, fogs, filters, various densities to achieve Vertigo's look.

ANTI CLASSICAL

Hitchcock was an innovator of film, he pioneered the classical Hollywood style and then reinvented. He was a modernist filmmaker decades before thier was a modernist movement. He used a number of techniques here that were anti classical, for instance scenes end where they begin; Hitchcock also used this to emphisis the sprial motiff and dream like atmosphere. The last shot with the nun leaves the audiece with no reassurances. Thier is more music than dialouge, agian emphaising the dream. The audience identifys with no character. Judy looks into the camera when we first meet her, characters never do this because it breaks the audiences disbelief. Thier is no final explanation given, only clues and not enough at that. Thier is no closure. These are all anti classical.

THE SPIRAL

The structuring motiff of the film, the key, is the spiral. We see it in the titles, the way the policeman falls, the twist of hair, the tower, the steps, the journey in the car, even the music. The music is endless It consits of chords that are never resolved or melodic. The are repeated broken chords. Why the spiral? It is thematcially important, but why? The sprial is an unstable alternative to the circle, as if the center won't hold. The film has no center.

VERTIGO SHOT

This occurs seven times throughout the film and is also a structuring motiff. It is the visual approximation of the mind and body of Scotty and shows a preception problem. It was a new type of point of view shot. It was accomplished by zooming in and pulling out. It represents ambigous feelings of attraction and repulsion, which are our feelings towards the characters. And the feelings of Judy and Scotty; Madeleine and the grave; Madeleine and Scotty; Carlata and her child; and Elster and Madeleine. Scottys literal vertigo represents his metaphorical falling back in time ie to the spanish time.

DREAMING

As well as the above other thematics relate to the dreamlike atmosphere. Scotty is always in a state of transition - his job, love etc. San Fransico is stragely empty, this makes it seem not real. No one is having sex in the film, this too is not real and dream like - some say that the famous in/out vertigo shot is an analogy to sex. The nightmare scene by painter John Farren. The car following car scenes. dissolves, fades, soft focus. Unexplained things. Mistaking people for Madeleine. etc.

THE END

What is the nun doing there? Is it gods justice? Hitchcocks theme of 'accidents in life'? She is in black and white, no colour. She is in absolutes while everyone else is in shades, middle ground.

GREEN

The colour green is seen many times throughout Vertigo, this is a technique. On the stage green represents ghosts. Madeleine is a ghost and is often scene in green, so is the car, dresses, stones etc. The are other important color. click here for an astounding article on colour in Vertigo.

MUSIC

Music is very important in Vertigo. It never ends, repeating forever. During the love scene we hear slow violins, this is the first time an orchestra is heard in the film. Music is unique here because there is more of it than of the dialougue. It too is a character in Vertigo. There is more emotion in music than in dialouge as music is more primal.

For more read Truffaut's book on Hitchcock.
I give it 10/10 stars.





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