"You shouldn't keep souvenirs of a killing. You shouldn't have been that sentimental."

Rating: 10/10 (4 November 2014)

Vertigo is an absolutely fascinating look into the deep psychological effect trauma can have on the mental health of an otherwise completely sane individual. James Stewart stars as John Ferguson, a San Francisco detective forced to retire after witnessing the tragic death of his partner. The incident causes him to develop a debilitating fear of heights and the toll it takes on his mental health becomes the focus of the beginning of the film. He is forced to bring an end to his brief retirement when a friend from college contacts him to solve the mystery of his wife's peculiar behavior, and Ferguson's fragile mental state is exacerbated by the unbelievable nature of the situation.
One of, if not the best aspect of this film is James Stewart's outstanding performance. I was hugely impressed by his unique and exceptional presence. Everything about Stewart is leading man material. His voice and appearance and the way he presents his character are all so amusingly Scottish and he makes John Ferguson such a compelling character. The entire film relies on his ability to feel genuine. he needs to be convincing and real for Hitchcock's story to succeed, and he does not disappoint. He becomes progressively less stable as the story unfolds, and he gives this an undeniably authentic feel. I was deeply affected by what he had become by the end of the film, I actually worried for Ferguson as a character, and that made him unforgettable.
The most important part of making a great mystery is a story that can remain intriguing throughout. It needs to be puzzling enough for the film's success to ride entirely on the conclusion, and it needs to deliver in a way that leaves the viewer effected by the mystery itself. With a good mystery, you're left pondering the implications of everything that had transpired. One of the things I really loved about the film was how uncompromising it was in it's originality. Vertigo felt like Vertigo, it felt like its own entity free from comparison. There aren't many other stories so captivating. Vertigo refused to underwhelm.
Vertigo is surrounded by a daunting amount of hype, to the point where you can't really expect it to live up to everything it's made out to be. Instead of simply surpassing my expectations, which it did, it also proved itself to have a real, admirable complexity to it. Vertigo creates a riveting world for John Ferguson, and that's something only the best films can do.