Vertigo: Obsession
Before this review, I’ve got to speak my peace about The Man. To admire and love film, you’re doing yourself a disservice not seeing a film by one of the greatest. Alfred Hitchcock set himself apart from all directors before and after his time with his visceral style of directing and masterful story telling. If he liked an idea, he would go through with fulfilling his vision, often going head to head with his own writers! Steadfast, he always accomplished in making his films exactly how he wanted to show to his audiences. This film being primarily one of his best examples. Without spoiling the plot, Vertigo is a romance tragedy filled to the brim with suspense and murder.
To deconstruct this movie on its plot alone is very difficult, it’s quite literally one of those movies you can’t put out in such a short synopsis. A detective gets pushed to retire after his fear of heights causes the death of a another officer and a girl he was hired to tail. He sees a remarkable look a like of the girl, causing him to transform her image onto the dead girl's body. This ultimately brings forth an unhealthy cycle of madness and lies. The movie is an absolute trip and you will take what you will from the story depending on your initial reaction. What you can expect to get from this movie is a fantastic dynamic duo performance from Stewart and Novak, whose devoted performances into their roles get you invested in their plights. The scene that took place between the two from at the Golden gate bridge were so moving. In each interaction we had of the two, you could just feel the intensity in their eyes meeting.
Cinematography is on a whole other level as well, usually playing a big part in the story’s tense atmosphere and the shots of the Bay Area from then just look so incredible. Hitchcock really went so far in telling the type of story he wanted, he visualized what was the flurry of emotions that this movie wrought about. He was able to really set a tone with the music as well, making for what was a thrilling experience throughout to the very end. If there’s anything really taking note of here, the music made the climatic finale all the more better. To quote Scorsese on his thoughts of the Score: "Hitchcock's film is about obsession, which means that it's about circling back to the same moment, again and again And the music is also built around spirals and circles, fulfilment and despair. Herrmann really understood what Hitchcock was going for - he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession."
In particular, that’s one of the primary themes I wanted to circle back to about this movie: obsession. There’s a lot of thoughts that came flooding in upon my first watch of this movie and even more so in writing this review. Stewart’s character is one obsessive guy. He’s completely entranced over this woman through the plight of the movie and the lengths he goes to, whether it was for her or the experience he had with her, are absolutely insane. The tragedy that is this story all the more makes sense with each viewing taking this fact into account. Sort of like 500 days, do you love the idea or person? It makes me wonder if the obsession we constantly have with people, places, or things stem from the actual desire of the aforementioned subject of obsession or the thought of it? For me, obsession as a feeling isn’t something to scoff at for the destruction it can bring about. But, if you understand your feelings and get a grasp why you obsess, I think you can control it. Because like what much of the movie goes to show, the actions of an obsessed person can be dreadful if not handled properly.
Overall the film succeeds at being a masterpiece for illustrating an experience. Personally it took me along for a ride that is distinctly nostalgic and thought provoking. I recommend seeing it yourself if you haven’t, maybe you’ll feel something different from it.
10/10 it gives me the feels man.