It is unusual to see a director produce his best work after the age of 50, but that is exactly what Alfred Hitchcock did. Starting in 1948 with "Rope" and ending with "The Birds" in 1963, this was the era of his most inspired films. "Vertigo", in my opinion, is the best film of his entire body of work.
As for the film itself, it is a brilliantly twisted movie infused with touches of genius and madness that focuses on the interconnected nature of love and obsession. Interwoven with this main theme is a crime mystery that is revealed to and solved for the audience but not the protagonist, James Stewart's character, for the last 45 minutes of the film.
Alongside these themes is the issue of lost opportunities - how we grieve over them, and whether or not what we perceive as lost opportunities were ever "real" opportunities in the first place. This issue is raised not only for Scotty (James Stewart) - if only he could have gotten to Madeleine (Kim Novak) in time, if only he could have rescued the policeman from falling to his death at the beginning of the film, if only he could have seen through the scheme that manipulated him so perfectly and ultimately drove him temporarily mad - but for just about everybody else in the cast too. This includes Scotty's college girlfriend (Barbara Bel Geddes) who has remained his friend through the years and obviously still harbors thoughts of what might have been if only she had accepted Scotty's marriage proposal years before.
Besides the excellent acting and superb plot, the score is outstanding as is the cinematography, especially the visual darkness of the mission San Juan Bautista versus the angelic beauty of Madeleine which belies what is really going on. I highly recommend this film to anyone who has the time to watch it more than once. Just one viewing won't do it justice.
This is Justin's pick.
I had been meaning to watch this movie for years, so this was an excellent excuse to finally see it. I had high expectations and really it met them all.
ReplyDeleteWell first of all, obviously it's Hitchcock. I'm no movie expert, but you dont need to be in order to appreciate how great of a director he is. If you're new to the whole movie critic thing, just pay attention to how he frames each shot. It's just masterfully done and easy to notice if you look for it. Then there is the symbolism he puts in his shots. I hate symbolism. For me, it seems like either it's smacking you in the face blatant (I love them, but Eastwood and Scorcese have both gotten lazy and are guilty of this) or so "sublte" that even after it is all explained to me, I think it is all BS (Coen bros, especially No Country for Old Men). But Hitchcock, especially here, just seems to find a happy medium. You notice the little details and symbols, but they're not popping out at you and you're still pleasantly surprised when you notice them.
Then with James Stewart it is of course great acting. I loved the dialogue throughout the movie. My favorite was the "I dont think Mozart will help" line. But there were quite a few great one liners.
Then there's the story itself. I thought it was great. A little slow for the first 3rd (all the car scenes), but it really shifts into high gear after that (helped along greatly by the chemistry between Stewart and Novak). Plenty of entertaining twists and turns. It's almost like 3 movies wrapped into one with the crime/love/insanity plots going on. I loved the insanity aspect of the story. Hitchcock did to Stewart what Nolan tried to do to the audience in Inception this summer, only he did it so much more smoothly and more artistically. I donno, I guess I just liked how simply he turned Stewart's world upside-down and inside-out so completely.
How did you feel about Judy towards the end of the movie before Stewart takes her to the church tower? Did you feel sympathy for her situation? Angry at her duplicity? What about after? Any sympathy then or anger for her stubborn naivity? What about Stewart's reaction?
I think I felt a combonation of all those things for her. Beforehand I was angry that she was lying and pity because she actually thought she could live like that but also because she knew she was making a huge sacrifice but was still willing to for love. I havent decided how I feel about the very end yet. It caught me totally off guard.
Kim Novak was soooo hot.
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