Vertigo (Summary)
In the film, Scottie, the main character has an unfortunate accident where he's stuck hanging off of a roof and he realises he has acrophobia. After this he feels he can't do his job and retires from the police force However his friend, Gavin, calls upon him to become his private investigator as he believes his wife is possessed. Scottie goes through with Gavin's plan, in a twist of fate this was all a plan for Gavin to murder his wife, the plan was set up to perfection. Unfortunately Scottie becomes obsessed with "Madeleine" and finds the actress who he fell in love with and only realises who she is once she wears the necklace once worn by Madeleine.
In my opinion Vertigo, for its time (1958), is a very artistic film regardless of the fact it's meant to be a mystery, thriller. Hitchcock implants many different camera angles and the editing is far past its time. Although by todays standards Vertigo isn't the most action packed film it still uses all the conventions a thriller would today, for instance the use of music is done very well to make some scenes come across as really intense and regardless you can still feel a lot of tension. I also think San Francisco is a very smart place to have filmed Vertigo as it holds a lot of modern day features of a thriller, it's a typical city that doesn't sleep, a city where something's always happening and Vertigo is certainly like this, something new seems to be uncovered every scene. However, James Stewart who plays Scottie is 49 during the film and Kim Novak who plays Madeleine/Judy is only 24. This was seen as a problem when the film was releases as Scottie is meant to be around 30 and this caused Hitchcock and Stewart to fall out as Vertigo didn't do as commercially well as hoped and Hitchcock blamed the age of Stewart for this. I personally see this as a negative because the role of Scottie is performed brilliantly by James Stewart but the film itself could have been much more acceptable by a plethora of people and if Scottie was portrayed by a younger actor it possibly could have brought much more to Vertigo. As well as this it could be argued that the narrative is too long, most of the audience would have expected the film to end as soon as soon as we, the audience, find out the whole plan. However it's a lot more long winded as Judy eventually plummets to her death in another twist. In contrast the narrative meaning is very important, regardless of the length as the narrative follows Scotties feelings of obsession (with Madeleine), his mental illness (acrophobia) and how males were much more powerful than women. This is why at some points in Vertigo Scottie himself doesn't know whats happening. In most films obsession is usually emphasised to be this gesture of love and usually ends up in a "happily ever after" however Vertigo does really well to show the other side of obsession and how it can become controlling and in the end Scottie drives Judy to her death through his obsession. Overall Vertigo is by todays standards dated but is a pioneer for narrative meaning much more than just a story, a story that has deeper meanings and Alfred Hitchcock is a pioneer in editing.
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