Vertigo (Alfred Hitchcock, 1958)

Well, this was definitely beyond my expectations. I didn’t know what the film was about but I would have never guessed it. A man hires an ex-detective named John “Scottie” Ferguson (and one of his friends), who suffers from vertigo (hence, why he left the detective occupation) to spy on his wife who he believes is possessed by the spirit of Carlotta Valdes who we find out is one of her ancestors. The detective (played by the wonderful James Stewart from the Shop Around the Corner) eventually falls in love with her after saving her from drowning (first suicide attempt) but we see her end up committing suicide by jumping off a church tower. (Actually, later in the film we see that this was in fact staged by the husband as a cover up to murder his wife by throwing her out of the tower.) So Scottie (and at this point, the audience too) doesn’t know this and we see how he is scarred by losing someone he loves. However, then we see a woman who looks like Madeleine but goes by the name of Judy, and he instantly follows her and not surprisingly, falls in love with her. It gets quite ridiculous as he insists the woman dies her hair blonde and wears the same grey suit as Madeleine, as if to fool himself he is with his first love (which the audience learns it is actually Madeleine).

However, everything unravels as we see Judy put on the antique necklace Madeleine wore and suddenly Scottie puts everything together. In one last move, he takes her, against her will, to the top of the tower, where we get the sense he wants to throw her off and thus, complete his cycle of grief and anger for deceiving him. Nevertheless, she professes her love for him and it appears as though he forgives her and they embrace, when suddenly a nun enters the tower, surprising Jude, who steps backwards and falls to her death and we see the film end with the nun whispering “god have mercy” while ringing the clock bell as Scottie stares down in disbelief at his “second chance” once again turned to misery.

Here's the trailer for the film:

It was quite a remarkable film as considering the 1950s audience, I’m surprised to see the issue of suicide in the film − it’s rare even nowadays, and a nun ultimately responsible for a death is pretty much unheard of). The plot is so twisted and complex and far, far, far away from a happy ever after, that I just don’t know how to handle it. If I were to sum up the film in one word it would be obsession: obsession as in love for another person, obsession with recreating and changing the past (shown in his comedic insistence of certain clothes for Judy while at the store, to which the store woman replies, “You really know what you want, don’t you?”).

I liked the vertigo zoom shot downwards really interesting as it sort of aimed to give the impression of feeling faint, as if you were witnessing how a person suffering from vertigo would feel. Also, I liked Scottie’s nightmare sequence, which included red tinges, animation and just his head in the middle of a psychedelic swirl. Hitchcock, well now I really admire his mastery, the way he builds suspense and just you know something will happen but it’s not as predictable as typical Hollywood films and that’s why I liked it.

4/5