Hitchcock delivers another wonder with consistently thought out thriller

Rating: 9/10 (31 May 2009)

Retiring cop John Ferguson (Stewart) is hired to stalk Madeline Elster (Novak) and finds he is slowly falling in love with the suicidal woman.
Vertigo has now become one of the most critically acclaimed crime thrillers by the legendary Brit Alfred Hitchcock.
The opening title sequence is excellent; particularly considering it was made in the late 1950s when technologically was restricted. The tantalizing colour montage and shifting images makes the James Bond efforts look like child's play. The accompanying song helps generate a feeling of excitement and we are right at the start of an energetic movie.
The opening sequences with Stewart's Ferguson and his job partner chasing an anonymous villain across the rooftops is vintage action and excitement, perfect Hitchcock styling also. Then as Ferguson losses his balance and is caught dangling we have the setup for a beautifully lit film.
We learn Ferguson has now retired from developing vertigo with this experience and what follows is a sweet slow build up in the mystery of the beautiful and strange Madeline, an estranged woman played with a sharp vagueness by Kim Novak. Her soft dialogue and timing help set her up for an emotional interplaying manipulative character in the latter stages and is a fine character development by Hitchcock.
James Stewart, in his last pairing with the director, is impressive once more with a professional but eager character. This particular role of the star is often remarked as a dent in an otherwise brilliant film.
It is perhaps easy to see why as he has no mysterious vigour that his character from Rear Window had and the story perhaps required more from him here in 1958, but I thought he carried the emotional scenes well.
Vertigo is labelled as a tantalizing thriller and when comparing it to modern day films with the same tag you wonder if something has gone wrong. There have certainly been rapid developments over the last 50 years and the renowned ones in the 21st century, the Bonds and Bourne's, have that vibrant fast energy with extra charisma. Vertigo is the build up to what was to come, a major influence. The car scenes for example are slowly paced but edge up a gear as the stakes in the plot steadily rise.
Vertigo therefore is thankfully not dated but given the vast amounts of modern thrillers, it may seem so to others. It may lack suspense when the romance lingers but the sheer spectacle of the story puts this doubt away.
Hitchcock once again has a consistent directional release with wonderful character placement and a fine selection of twists and turns to give the would-be dull parts that excitement. One excellent part is towards the end in the Bell Tower when we see Ferguson's shake up of Vertigo. It is fair no one does a bird's eye view shot like the brilliant Hitchcock, who once again, has made a classic.