Hitchcock in Love **SPOILER ALERT**

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 2002)

I saw this film for the first time when I was in my twenties in 1969 and was not impressed. My opinion since that initial viewing had always been that (*SPOILER ALERT*) it was one of the few Hitchcock films that did not reward repeated viewings since so much of the film is taken up by the initial deception. Once you know who "Madeleine" really is, that first hour is simply tedious.
Then, when I was in my forties, I saw the restored film at New York's Ziegfeld Theatre in 70 mm. I fully expected to be bored by it. Instead, it was one of the most powerfully emotional film experiences I have ever had.

'Heartbreaking' is not a word I ever thought of applying to a Hitchcock film, but that is exactly what Vertigo is.
I have seen it a number of times since its restoration, and far from being tedious, it seems richer and more complex, and yes, more heartbreaking each time. The final image of Scottie standing on that ledge is devastating. Is he there to look one last time at his love object or to follow her by jumping to his own death? Brilliantly, Hitchcock fades out on the image.

After seeing the film recently, I was amazed by how it breaks all the rules of the suspense genre. The way it reveals its 'surprise ending' two thirds of the way through the film, and then completely changes focus, first generating suspense over whether Scottie will discover Judy's secret, then over whether Judy will discover that he HAS discovered her secret, and then over what he intends to do about it. Finally, in the film's most wrenching turnabout, we experience Scottie's incredible rage over what has been done to him (How was it that Stewart wasn't even nominated for this performance?)and after the rage comes that final kiss when he has to be weighing the possibility that he may find happiness with Judy in spite of everything, and then, abruptly, even that possibility is torn from his arms as he loses her finally forever. WOW.