Movie Review – Vertigo(1958)

Vertigo(1958) is directed by the master of suspense film Alfred Hitchcock. First of all, the plot of the film is outstanding. The script is an adaptation of the 1954 French novel D'entre les morts (The Living and the Dead) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. A nearly retired detective Scottie (James Stewart) receives an order from his acquainted friend to follow his wife Madeleine as she has been acting so strangely. Gavin is afraid that Madeleine will commit suicide like her grandmother Carlotta Valdes who has her portrait in the art gallery. The detective has to follow and spy on her. As a result, he entangles and obsesses with Madeleine who is the wife of Scottie’s friend when solving the myth. After he falls in love with her, she dies. At that time, he does not know the true identity of the dead person. After Madeleine dies, Scottie makes Judy look like his lover. Judy also falls in love with Scottie. Scottie is suddenly aware of the similarity between Madeleine and Judy. Then, when he goes to the crime scene again, Judy confesses her lying to him and dies in an accident. Gavin kills his wife and he finds Judy to act like his wife and act like she commits suicide. 

The most thrilling part is that Gavin knows that Scottie has acrophobia so he plans to create a killing scene in a tower. Gavin makes Judy look like a queen in the painting with the same hairstyle, wearing the same jewelry and holding the same floral banquet. She acts strangely like a haunting by a dead ghost. The fake Madeleine plans to fall into the sea so the detective can save her like a hero. She lives in his apartment wearing few clothes. At that time, Scottie falls for her beauty and fake Madeleine starts her fake suicide case with Gavin.

Hitchcock’s masterful filming techniques are shown in this film. The shape of the spiral as the symbol of vertigo constantly appears in the movie. For example, the hairstyle of a woman has the shape of a spiral. The camera films the stairs from the top view, which forms it as well. It is like the audience looking down into an abyss. The term vertigo in this film is associated with obsession and deception. The detective falls into a trap Gavin set for him to cover his murder. Moreover, the detective has acrophobia and he is afraid of standing on the highlands. When he stands on the highlands, it makes him feel dizzy easily. The eyeball of the man implies a spiral. The detective falls in love with the fake Madeleine when solving the case and he has to face the death of her. All the issues make him suffer from vertigo. Vertigo means dizziness like eating a toxic mushroom and absorbing the space oil drug including the ingredient Etomidate. The flashing colors on the screen, an animated flower blossoming, falling into the spiral, and floating in the space are used to form a sequence of scenes to show the dizziness. A montage of effect is just an effect. The sequence of the scenes has to match the plot. The sequence of the scenes matches the plot of this film. He takes a long break to recover from the overstimulation of facing love and death. But he still cannot forget about his love. 

The female character plays a significant role in this film as she has to be a femme fatale to attract the detective. Gentlemen prefer blondes. He cannot resist the temptation in front of him. At the same time, she is under Gavin’s manipulation and she cannot be loved by this love fool. The fickle Judy wants to write a letter to Scottie for her confession. After finishing the letter, she tears it apart. Later, the female character is also fooled by his obsessive affection. If the viewers were Judy, would she think of the following question? If Madeleine is fatally attractive, why does her husband kill her? Judy wants to be with Scottie. However, when a man’s heart is occupied, it is not easy to change his heart. In the end, she does not have a good fate after being a criminals, she dies miserably. 

Moreover, when the detective spies on the suspicious person, a long shot is applied in the shooting. A shot taken of a person will be small. For example, it is shown when Scottie follows the fake Madeleine Judy to the art gallery and goes under The Golden Gate Bridge. 

As the detective always has to observe to find clues, point-of-view shots are made frequently when a character is watching a character or an object. It is usually seamed to the scenes of the character or object being watched or switch between perspectives.

Some characters and scenes appear twice in the film. There are two Madeleine as Judy mimics Madeleine. Judy appears in the hotel twice. Due to his obsession with Scottie’s lost lover, he wants Judy to dress in the same dress as Madeleine. He still falls for her beauty who is supposed to be someone’s wife and was killed by his husband. Scottie goes to the mission tower twice. He sees death more than two times. When Judy confesses to Scottie in the tower, the nun comes up which implies Judy’s conscience is not buried. 

Some scenes are well designed with great, grand and beautiful decorations such as Gavin’s workplace, Ernie's Restaurant and the art gallery. In the Ernie's Restaurant, all ladies and gentlemen dress up and dine in the grand restaurant. It is most of the people’s dream. The fake Madeleine wears a green dress which implies prosperity, elegance and luxury with her gentleman. The color of her dress also contrasts with the red color of the wall in the restaurant. She is like the leave of a rose on the screen.

In addition, the profound, suspenseful, mysterious and haunting film scoring by Bernard Herrmann is applied in this film especially in the dark and twisted scenes. For instance, when he runs up to the tower and chases Judy, the thrilling music is played as background music.

To conclude, the mysterious case is a well-set trap and Hitchcock’s filming provides a thrilling watching experience to the audience. Good works are timeless.