I had a chance to see Vertigo restored projected on 70mm recently. Visuals? Lush. Atmosphere? Creepy and suspenseful. Story? Eh…
It’s goofy, goes in circles, drops entire threads, and completely fails to pay off.
But I still liked it. I walked out thinking, “well, I’ve no desire to see that again but I enjoyed watching it this once.”
Open spoilers
I just saw it again tonight, with the Cleveland Orchestra playing the score live. Good stuff. Notorious is still my favorite Hitchcock film, but as a tale of obsession and control, and for Hitch’s masterful switch from creepy ghost story to creepy stalking/control movie to murder mystery, I like Vertigo very much. Brilliant use of color and a memorable score.
I’d seen it in college but not since. I misremembered the reveal of the Kim Novak character in her apartment - I had thought that the neon sign outside was blinking, so that she looked blonde-brunette-blonde-brunette, but not so.
The murder plot itself was farfetched: Elster would have had to kill his wife recently enough that rigor mortis wouldn’t be detected - and hope that Scottie wouldn’t try to see (or be shown by the police, for purposes of identification)
I also didn’t like the ending - the nun looming out of nowhere and Judy falling to her death. Felt forced and contrived.
I wondered, was the lady in charge of the boarding house in on the plot, or did just really not see Judy/Madeline go upstairs? And did Judy purposefully walk by Scottie outside the flower shop with her friends, hoping to catch his eye, or are we meant to take that as a coincidence, even in as big a city as San Francisco?
More open spoilers
Forgot to mention, the great vistas and street footage of Fifties San Francisco, not to mention clothes and cars of the era.
More on the farfetched murder plot: Elster would have had to hope that Scottie wouldn’t try to see the body - and also hope that Scottie wouldn’t see her picture in the newspapers, reporting her “suicide,” or the jig would be up. “That’s not the girl I was following!”
Despite the disappointing ending, I did like the sudden fade to black - for all we know, Scottie, despairing, might have jumped himself, just seconds later.
For me it’s just that with Kim Novak, I’m always watching someone who’s trying so hard to be a movie star.
I think Ebert’s review pretty accurately sums up why this film is well thought of by some critics: it’s perhaps the most direct window into the obsessions otherwise hinted at in much of Hitchcock’s other output. I don’t think that, on its own, necessarily makes it great, and I can certainly understand why someone just looking for a light entertainment might find Vertigo’s bizarre storyline and weirdly artificial look off-putting, but I still think it’s a pretty good movie.
James Stewart is totally convincing playing against type, IMO, and this is one of my all-time favorite performances by him. Bernard Hermann turns in another great score and as others have mentioned, the northern California locations are utterly gorgeous. The dreamlike appearance of the cinematography was clearly intentional and works well, I think.
Structurally, the movie has similarities to Psycho in the way that both films employ misdirection, starting off purporting to tell a conventional and somewhat predictable story, only to shatter audience expectations and reveal the ‘real’ subject of the movie some way in. On the flip side, both films are fairly ludicrous in their portrayal of mental illness, and for me the air pretty much goes out of both of them once the big misdirection reveal has passed.
Bottom line: I don’t think that Vertigo is by any means Hitchcock’s best film, but it’s at least an interesting one. YMMV.
I haven’t thought about Vertigo since I posted this, so I can’t answer any questions about it. I’ve pretty much blocked it from my memory and don’t have any plans to go back and revisit it.
I did recently watch Rope and I really enjoyed it. Jimmy Stewart in that role was absolutely perfect. The ending was a bit “eh” but otherwise I really loved the suspense and build-up of the movie.
…well, I came into the thread to say…
um, what HE said up there.
One of the bigger challenges with Vertigo is that Scottie simply isn’t a particularly good guy. He’s filling the protagonist slot in the movie, but his actions and obsession make him pretty alienating to the viewer by the end. By the end of the movie, you’re not really cheering for anybody. And the final accidental death is just a bizarre moment.
I think it’s great at mood-setting, very nice to look at (I saw it projected from 70mm recently and it’s definitely a lovely movie), and has a lot going for it, but the core story is very tough to swallow.
Any thoughts on these questions?
I’m with the OP one hundred percent. Yes, the locations and the cars were pretty and the technical tricks were impressive, but in the end I felt royally ripped off.
Did you get dizzy?