Vertigo

okay back on track. Vertigo is a very special kind of movie. It is the only film to ever beat Citizen Kane on a top 100 list, and it is a film directed by the one the only Alfred Hitchcock.

Considered by many to be the greatest Cinematic director of all time, Alfred Hitchcock made a living out of bringing his audience to the edge of their seats. there was a period in time where Hitchcock wasn't just well known, he was a house hold name. from his films to a successful television show Hitchcock became known as the "Master of Suspense and for good reason. The Man Who Knew Too Much, North by Northwest,  The Birds, PSYCHO;  Hitchcock knew how to just push these things out at a very fast rate, making him one of the first serial directors as well. but what made him so incredible was his approach to film. He always saw a films success to be relied solely on the audience's concern for what was going on. He was always willing to push the boundaries in what most directors were afraid of because they were bound by the studio system and censors. His desire to always make the audience apart of the film brought him to create new cinematic and marketing techniques which made the film experience even better. That aside, let's get to the movie that has now come to pass Vertigo.

Our story begins with San Francisco detective John "Scottie" Ferguson. He's suffering from a severe case of acrophobia following an incident in which he lost a fellow police officer on the city rooftops. Now a retired man, Scottie is urged to take a private case in order to help treat his illness. Enter Gavin Ester, a man who suspects his wife, Madeleine has been possessed. Scottie follows his wife around town discovering that she makes frequent trips to a grave and to a painting of a woman who looks identical to Gavin's wife. One day he finds himself urged to interfere when she attempts to commit suicide. Now invalid, the two form a romantic relationship all the while attempting to solve the mystery of her possession. One evening while taking a ride to see an old convent Madeleine commits suicide and once again Scottie is unable to cope. He obsesses over her and the mystery around her, until one day he finds a women who looks and sound exactly like her. Obsessed with the woman, he continues to make her like madeleine in hopes of freeing himself from his guilt and solving the mystery once and forever. 

It was once said, that anyone who wished to go to film school could just watch a Hitchcock movie and get the exact same education; and after watching Vertigo that's a pretty accurate statement. everything about this movie is precise and too the point there is no such thing as filler in these movies. Hitchcock was a man who knew exactly what he wanted and how to execute it. Every shot, every scene, every piece of dialogue is present for it's exact purpose; to either establish plot or to push it foreword. Films like this are like clock work. Everything in the film is moving towards something, nothing is unnecessary and that's what makes a Hitchcock movie so great, nothing is unnecessary. Take into consideration a scene involving Scottie and his ex fiancé. All the dialogue in this scene is used to establish who these people are, where they came from, and what they hope to achieve. By the end of the scene we know that scotty suffer acrophobia, that he is retired, and that he is troubled with love. We learn that the fiancé is an intellectual and that she knows Scottie better than he knows himself. Hell, we even know the dynamic between these two characters. All the necessary back story is established within the first scene and its done in a way that does not feel forced. That's good filmmaking. 

The entire look of the film is great to. There is always some sort of trigger, some visual synonym that relates to what's going on in the scene. We see Scottie and the fiancé standing around a room of Brazier prototypes as we understand the sexual tension between the two. We see the Golden Gate Bridge during Madeleine's First attempt at suicide; for anyone who doesn't know, the bridge is notorious for it's high suicide rate. Then there's the obvious spiral which is the core symbol of the film, as it reflects Scottie's own plunge into insanity.

This also happens to be a film in which Hitchcock invented a few new cinematic techniques. The most famous of these techniques is known as the Dolly Zoom.  The effect is achieved by zooming a zoom lens  while the camera moves towards or away from the subject in such a way as to keep the subject the same size in the frame throughout. What results is an affect that resembles the feeling of vertigo. this shot is typically used from Scottie's point of view to signify his realization of being at a high altitude. The affect is really cool and when you see it being done in action you'll realize you've seen it countless times before. 

The overall mystery of the story is a good one. I'd be lying if I said I figured it out, because it is a pretty good one. And maybe that's the point. Vertigo is a movie that keeps you guessing to the very end. For the first half of the movie I couldn't tell if this was a psychological thriller or a paranormal movie about possession, and then once you start to get a vague idea of what's going on, boom Madeleine dies, and then we have to deal with this whole possible doppleganger plot. Did any of that sound confusing? if so, then good because it is but not at all in a bad way. That's the genius of Hitchcock. He throws all this stuff at you to keep you guessing but at the same time, he's always keeping it organized so that you never lose interest. His talent really shines through.

I guess I'm going to have to talk about the negative now huh? Well i wouldn't say theres a real negative about this film but just a significant difference to the modern definition of "suspense." Today, action movies like Taken, and Die Hard are considered suspense films. Hitchcock movies were always a little bit more subtle. It was about what was waiting for you around the corner that was suspenseful. Hitchcock knew this, which is why he really relied on the use of developmental scenes to make the film suspenseful. He realized that by dragging the film a little bit you make the audience so uncomfortable; that they will begin to question when or where the big reveal will be or even if it will be revealed. This created a genuine sense of suspense which is of course what Hitchcock was the master of. 

And that's Vertigo: a great, made by one of the greats. Although not the best of Hitchcock's films, (we'll get to Psycho a little later) it's still a fantastic film, as are most Hitchcock films. Definitely worth a look if you like a good mystery. Oh on a side note, Alfred Hitchcock appeared in every single one of his films in extremely small background cameos. There's a bit of a game involving trying to find him. that's  right Hitchcock was the M. Night Shyamalan before there was one, except Hitchcock never peaked too early in his career and lost sight of where he excelled.