Another Hitchcock masterpiece!

Rating: Null/10 (22 April 2000)

I'm a latecomer to Hitchcock's films, only discovering them some 10 years ago. But it didn't take long for me to discover which ones were the most brilliant of his work.
"Vertigo" is one of those films that needs repeated viewings to understand every detail. Even I was fooled the first time I watched it! I give a lot of credit to James Stewart's fine acting in this film. At first, it appears he's about to launch into yet another of his familiar "friendly man" roles. But as the film evolves, you start seeing him unravel. First, he's convinced to shadow an old friend's wife, despite his own objections. Next, we realize he's not just shadowing, he's turned into something of a voyeur (and starting to fall for the girl he's been tailing). When he witnesses her death, he completely unravels and we see yet another side, the disturbing side where he's seemingly lost all touch with reality. (The nightmare sequence is, to me, one of the most tense in the movie.) He slowly recovers during the balance of the film, only to be shocked once again at the conclusion. (And Hitchcock wisely left the after-effects of the conclusion up to the minds of his audience.)
Kim Novak is also stunning as the woman being tailed, and as the "down home" girl Stewart recognizes on the street, a total role reversal. Barbara Bel Geddes also does a nice job as the mothering, love-lorn lingerie designer who just can't seem to do just enough to get Stewart to fall head over heels for her.
At times, the film seems a little slowly paced. This may be for the effect of having the audience percolate and simmer while the characters develop. We're kept in suspense as Stewart trails Novak around San Francisco. And we're jolted out of our trance after he rescues her out of the bay. We're later seduced as Novak dries off in his apartment. And shocked as one disaster marks the pivotal point in the film. Hitch was good at suspense, and there are many different kinds of suspense in this film. Definitely one of his best!