I’m constantly being bombarded by people telling him “you haven’t seen ____? You gotta check it out.” Or hearing critics rave “this movie is a classic, a must see.” So I decided that from now on every time I actually watch one of these flicks, I’ll write my take on whether the film lived up to the hype or fell short.
So, what’s the deal with Vertigo?
Alfred Hitchcock made a number of classic films and his most revered may be Vertigo. Vertigo has made its way to the top of a few Best Movie of All Time lists. The movie stars Jimmy Stewart as a recently resigned detective, John “Scottie” Ferguson, who decided to leave the police force after a terrifying experience of hanging from a roof resulted in a follow officer falling to his death. This event has left him with a case of acrophobia and he gets vertigo when he looks down at even a slight height.
Soon after his retirement, Scottie is tasked by a friend to tail his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak). The man believes his wife has been possessed by the spirit of her own grandmother. Her grandmother had killed herself some years ago and Scottie’s friend is worried for his wife’s safety. The plot seems a little far-fetched at first, but when you remember you are watching a Hitchcock film it isn’t too far out of the realm of possibility. Soon into following Madeleine, Scottie starts to believe she is possessed while falling for her romantically. This is honestly more of a believability issue for me than the plot because Jimmy Stewart is more than twice Novak’s age at the time of filming. I’ve seen a lot of older films with age differences between the leads, but it almost didn’t work in Vertigo. Something about the kissing scenes felt uncomfortable so that side of the story didn’t land as well as it could have had the casting been different.
Heavy spoilers to follow.
Scottie and Madeleine get close and Madeleine eventually falls to her curse and throws herself from a bell tower (something tall of course) as Scottie tries to chase her before succumbing to his vertigo. Her death causes him to breakdown and he ends up catatonic in the hospital for months. After he is released, Scottie still acts strange. He sees Madeleine everywhere. A woman walking down the street reminds Scottie so much of Madeleine that he follows her to her apartment to talk to her. The woman takes pity on Scottie after hearing his troubles and agrees to go to dinner with him. They begin to fall for each other, but Scottie can’t let go of Madeleine.
This portion of the movie felt so weird to me. The film clues you on to what is really going on, but Scottie seems to be going crazy. He forces the woman to dress up like Madeleine, changing her hair style and color to match hers. He even takes her to the scene of Madeleine’s death to attempt to draw out some conclusion about what he feels. I’m honestly not sure if knowing the truth or the stress of losing Madeleine pushed him over the edge of sanity. The ending of the film comes abruptly and leaves you with a feeling I’m sure the characters are experiencing in that moment. I wish it was clearer how Scottie was going to processes the event afterwards. At the time the credits roll he seems to be trying to figure out exactly what happened like I was.
As far as Hitchcock movies go, I wouldn’t rank Vertigo as my personal favorite. I suppose the visual effects and psychological aspects in Vertigo were enough to rank it over Hitchock’s other well received films in film critics’ opinion. It certainly is beautifully directed and has some great scenes, like Scottie’s mental break sequence. However, my favorite Hitchcock so far is North by Northwest. The plot doesn’t have the same level of mystery as Vertigo, but I think the characters and settings made North by Northwest a more enjoyable film. Nevertheless, Vertigo is a great film that deserves a high spot among classic cinema. It just sets a very high bar when you’re going into it after hearing it proclaimed the “best film of all time” when it’s not even my favorite from Hitchcock.
