Hitchcock's Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (12 July 2000)

Alfred Hitchcock has made so many excellent films that it is both hard and easy to recognize which one is his masterpiece.
In an odd way, "Vertigo" is his most romantic film, not romantic in the sense of the relationship between James Stewart and Kim Novak, but in the sense of the dark, tragic, lugubrious kind of romance portrayed often in European music from the 1800's. Scottie's complete surrender to Madeline and his escalating obsession to save her, are characteristics of a man so hopelessly in love that he loses sight of logistics, friends, and morals. Is he attracted to Madeline purely because of her stunning beauty, because of mysteriousness, or to him is she just a problem for him to solve, something to fix and feel gratified about? Thankfully, Hitchcock never tries to answer these questions, for that would have been too easy. This is a film that asks questions, and dares you to question yourself.
There are moments in this film of unparalleled skill and beauty. The first moment Scottie sees Madeline in the restaurant, we see her through his eyes, we see her as a goddess, a person to be worshiped, which is exactly what Scottie does. The sequence in which Scottie is racing up the church tower steps, only to look down and succumb to his paralyzing fear of heights in which the famous "dolly zoom" effect is used. The moment when Judy emerges from the bathroom dressed like Madeline, with an eerie green aura surrounding her. And the fitting finale, the result of Scottie's love, hate, arrogance, and paranoia. Bernard Herrman's score (his personal best) heightens each of these moments, whether the emotion he stirs is fear, obsession, or love. His music for this film deserves to sit on the shelf next to Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, and Puccini as one of the greatest romantic compositions of all time. It's hard to imagine that at the time of release, it was poorly received and puzzling to the critics and public.