I’m disappointed because I’d only ever heard the most fantastic things about this movie. I’ve enjoyed a handful of other Hitchcock films so I figured that after looking up “best of Hitchcock” and seeing Vertigo over and over as the #1 favorite or very near the number 1 favorite, I was sure to like it.
But I just didn’t. I thought the pacing was too slow for a terrible payoff and a frankly unbelievable ending. I didn’t care one iota about the characters. The love story was completely flat and frankly a little creepy and it just put me off the film in so many ways.
It did build up some mystery and opened up some questions which was nice and all, but I feel like the big reveal at the end strained believability so much that it made me a little angry.
Like I said, I’ve really enjoyed other Hitchcock films (especially Dial M For Murder), and a lot of his films have a pretty slow pace which normally won’t bother me as I like the intrigue and setup. I can watch slow movies and still love them, so I know it wasn’t just that alone for Vertigo that upset me.
Am I the only one here who actually likes Hitchcock in general, but pretty much disliked Vertigo in its entirety?
I have always thought Vertigo a ludicrously over-rated movie and I wouldn’t rate it as one of the best ten Hitchcock films let alone the towering masterpiece of world cinema many critics consider it. A lot of Hitch films have fairly silly plots but in terms of sheer nonsense the murder plan in Vertigo is probably his pinnacle. I guess fans of the film can overlook that and focus on other things but I really can’t.
Yeah, frankly I’m curious as to what people like so much about it. I mean, in general, even if I personally dislike a movie I can generally take a step out of my own body and objectively say, “well here’s why people probably love this film,” but with Vertigo I’m at a complete loss.
Vertigo was on TV recently, so I looked it up. Apparently it wasn’y highly regarded whemn it came out, and only acquired its reputation as a “classic” Hitchcock film later on. It didn’t do well at the box office, andone reason, Hitch figured, was because Jimmy stewart was too old to play a romantic lead anymore. The two never worked together again.
I first saw it on TV, and it was shocking to me then, but I have to admit that it also struck me as a heckuva piece of filmmmaking, and I could see how Hitchcock was manipulating the audience, creating expectation and mood, I noticed other things when I watched i recently. That, I suspect, is one reason filmmmakers and critics like it – it’s a showpiece for storytelling technique and the creation of mood. The story is actually kinda secondary.
And, of course, it was the first film to use the “Dolly Zoom/Vertigo Shot”, which alone would guarantee it a place in film history.
I do get drawn in and fascinated watching it, even though the intellectual payoff isn’t satisfying. And I love Bernarde Hermann’s music.
Have a look at Brian de Palma’s Obsession, a film which is incredibly heavily influenced by Vertigo, but is perhaps more mentally satisfying. Or Mel Brooks’ High Anxiety, which is an homage/parody of a lot of Hitchcock films, but especially “Vertigo” (including the very title)
I’m a big Hitchcock fan, but I do think Vertigo is overrated. Decent film, yes, but Hitchcock has done better (e.g., The 39 Steps, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, and Psycho, just to name a few). I think it’s because the psychological underpinnings are so easy to spot that it makes critics feel smart. Psycho, OTOH, undermines the psychological explanation for Bates, implying that psychology doesn’t explain a thing.
It’s accomplished filmmaking, but so is every other Hitchcock film of the 50s.
The “love story” is supposed to be creepy. Scottie (Stewart’s character) is not a well man, at all, and this is taken advantage of by someone who didn’t know quite how deeply that would unhinge the man.
Plus, it’s a goddamned love letter - a not-creepy one - to San Francisco, especially if you see the restored version. The color is such an important part of that. (My mother saw my restored copy and thought someone had “colorized” it - her memory had taken the dull colors of the decayed copy she’d seen and dimmed them down to black and white.)
It’s good, but not great. It’s actually quite dull for long stretches of it as well.
Psycho is the only Hitchcock movie I’d give a 10/10 for, anyway. There are some movies of his I have not seen though. My wife loves Rebecca, which would piss Hitchcock off since he didn’t have full creative control on it.
There was great stuff in most Hitchcock films, but not every one was a great movie. I’m no big fan of vertigo either. It feels like he had the idea to use a cheap camera effect and slapped together a movie around it.
It’s worth noting that this film popularized the dolly zoom as a technique. We see it as a cheap effect now only because everyone’s done it since then.
I agree completely. I’m actually working my way through the AFI Top Hundred I haven’t seen yet (or remember seeing), I generally enjoy the “classics” but Vertigo is one of the few so far which I didn’t like. It simply didn’t work in my opinion. I don’t know if it was the post shoot cutting, improvisations along the production, or what, but it was slightly mishmash and was . Every other film in this or that top ten I understand why it’s up there, but this… meh, I mean que. And the ending was silly.
The music, scenery, use of color palettes all make it special.The story seemed hokey and strange the first time I watched it, but after watching it over and over, it starts to make sense. The story is just deep. Or just watch it for the visuals and music.
Agreed, although I think that effect was not entirely intended. To many people, Stewart’s image is that of the decent and stable American everyman established in such movies as Frank Capra’s **Mr. Smith Goes to Washington **or It’s a Wonderful Life. As a result, seeing him unravel and become obsessive and stalkerish in **Vertigo **only adds to film’s effectively unsettling tone.
Agreed, I think Vertigo did inspire a lot of more recent “thrillers” (Basic Instinct and that type) but it is probably most of interest to film students overall.
Psycho, Rear Window and Rebecca are Hitchcock’s best movies that don’t require mental gymnastics to appreciate, IMHO.
- to San Francisco, especially if you see the restored version. The color is such an important part of that. (My mother saw my restored copy and thought someone had “colorized” it - her memory had taken the dull colors of the decayed copy she’d seen and dimmed them down to black and white.)
. Every other film in this or that top ten I understand why it’s up there, but this… meh, I mean que. And the ending was silly.