Hitchcock's psychological masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (1 September 2004)

Possible spoilers
`Vertigo', Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 film starring James Stewart and Kim Novak is a psychological thriller in which Scottie Ferguson (Stewart) is a retired detective hired to track the daily activities of Madeleine (Novak), the wife of an old college friend who has been exhibiting some disturbing behavior. The problem lies in that Scottie has the medical condition `Vertigo' due to a recent work recent work accident, so anytime he ascends any kind of height, he gets dizzy and ill. This doesn't appear to hamper his investigation until a crucial moment in the film, but is present throughout. The situation is further complicated when he falls in love with his subject, and the situation eventually spirals out of control, causing permanent damage to everyone involved.
`Vertigo' is said to be Hitchcock's masterpiece, and his most personal film. Judging by the disturbing psychosis of the main characters, this would be a pretty interesting thing to explore. The film could be construed as slow for the first hour or so because there is a lot of character and story development, which leads to a pretty bang up ending. James Stewart, as always, is excellent, and he certainly breaks type from his `aw shucks' type of role by portraying a severely flawed `hero', but I have never been a friend of Kim Novak's work or herself personally, so I could see just about anyone else in this role and think it would be fine.
I'm not entirely sure why I've always had a soft spot for `Vertigo'. It is vastly different from all of Hitchcock's other films, and therefore quite different from my personal stable of Hitchcock favorites. Perhaps it is because the film is so dark, and therefore risky for its time. It could also be because it IS different from his other work, and therefore it requires embracing. Regardless of the reason and despite its flaws, `Vertigo' remains a beautifully filmed psychological thriller that is timeless in its themes of obsession and betrayal. Be sure to pick up a copy of the restored version of the film if you are renting, because the restoration is absolutely gorgeous.
--Shelly