The Best Film Ever Made? Perhaps.

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2015)

Heart-wrenching. Soul-crushing. Horrifying. Depressing. Beautiful. Prosaic. Phenomenal. When describing Vertigo, all of these words come to mind.
I warn you now--if you're reading this review (even though I have marked it as spoiler-laden) and you haven't seen the film, you must stop now. You will deprive yourself of the cinematic experience of a lifetime. Like Psycho, there is one vital piece of information that makes seeing the film for the first time a different kind of experience than you'll usually get from a film--an experience that you can only have once. So please, go watch the film if you haven't already. I'm not going anywhere.
The premise is somewhat well-known. Jimmy Stewart plays a retired officer--who retired due to his acrophobia leading to the death of a colleague--and is now being pulled out of retirement to do an acquaintance of his a favor. His "friend" Gavin Elster believes his wife to be possessed by the spirit of a dead woman named Carlotta. He wants Scottie (Jimmy Stewart) to follow her, and make sure she's safe.
Stewart foolishly agrees, and sets off by following her and tracking her to the various places of which she roams. Eventually, she commits suicide by throwing herself into the San Fransisco bay, and Scottie saves her.
From there, the relationship kick-starts. There are some really great moments between the two--most notably at the Sequoia trees, and later at mission San Juan Bautista. It's clear that they love each other--even though they shouldn't. She's married! This is an affair and it's clearly not supposed to happen this way.
Well, it seems as if Madeleine grows to understand that. Just before she goes off to jump from the tower, she tells him "It wasn't supposed to happen this way." A two-folded comment that only really makes sense upon re-watching. She climbs to the top of the tower and because of his acrophobia, he can't save her. She jumps. She dies. He's defeated.
This is where most films would end. But no, this is just the beginning. Hitchcock is just laying out the scene. The real story is just beginning.
After Scottie is finally out of the catatonic state the traumatic experience put him in, he meets a girl in town named Judy. He's attracted because she looks like Madeleine. He doesn't even deny it. And, strangely, Judy seems to know from the beginning--and, even more strangely, almost doesn't care.
The plot thickens when what seems strange all finally makes sense. This is the major turning point. When Madeleine said "It wasn't supposed to happen this way," she clearly meant that she and Scottie were not supposed to fall in love. But it almost makes it sound as if the rest of their activities had been planned. That's when the real layers begin to be peeled back. Judy writes a letter to Scottie, detailing Gavin Elster's original plans to kill Madeleine, how she was involved, and how the woman he loved really was still alive--but in the form of Judy, not Madeleine.
Judy rips up the letter, though, and engages in a love life with Scottie. Scottie, however, still wants Madeleine--not Judy. And he'll do anything to get her. He forces her to basically become exactly the same way she was when she was Madeleine. He becomes passionate over it, and they fight. But Judy, desperate for Scottie's love, concedes to become Madeleine if it means garnering his love.
One night, after her final transformation, she wears the necklace of Carlotta. Why? It's debated amongst film circles. Either she wasn't thinking, assumed he had forgotten, or--in my opinion--wanted to be found out and this was her way of doing it. The silent drive back to the mission that follows implies that she knew what was about to happen.
He takes her back up the stairs so he can "save her" this time. He conquers his acrophobia. But then, he demands answers from her, and her she begins to answer both from her real persona and her assumed one. They reach the top, bicker, and something bizarre happens.
They're standing dangerously close to the edge, and then there is a shot of a shadow approaching. We're clearly seeing this from the point of view of either Scottie or Judy, but no one really knows which. It's been argued that Judy sees it, is startled because she thinks it is the ghost of Madeleine or Carlotta, and falls to her death. On the contrary, some believe it to be a mere distraction to Scottie, allowing Madeleine to commit suicide.
The last shot of the film shows Scottie standing, much like he did in his dream, looking down at her body. The film ends there. Did he jump? Did he kill himself to be with her? No one knows.
The last twenty minutes or so is an emotionally frustrating experience. You want her to own up to it so much, but you also want him to be understanding. You see him become mad with trying to change her and become the same vain man that was out to kill his wife. When the tragedy happens, it hurts profusely--but it also hurts in a way that has never felt so good. You're clamoring for more at the end.
I don't know what else to say other than this is possibly the best film ever made. AFI and BFI agree, as they both list it amongst their best. I am not qualified to say whether it's the best film or not, but I can say with complete sureness that it's my favorite film of all time-- with no real competition.
Please, even if you did just spoil yourself--if you haven't seen it yet, go watch it. Right now.
10/10. Highly recommended to everyone.