Introspective drama about the complexities of the human mind

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2003)

**Spoilers Ahead**
Vertigo, on the surface, is a film that seems to be almost intentionally deceptive. It gives one all sorts of ideas, leads one to all sorts of conclusions, only to act in a manner completely different from what one expected. It starts out as a mystery, detective thriller and then halfway through switches gears and evolves into a story that examines the complexities of the human mind. Digging deeper, however, one finds two distinct themes, deception and obsession. There are several levels of deception that are present in Vertigo. The most prominent is of course Gavin Elster's (Tom Helmore) deception of detective Scottie Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart). Gavin hires him to pursue his wife, Madeline Elster (Kim Novak). Gavin convinces Scottie that his wife has been possessed by a dead spirit and requests that his old school friend agree to discreetly investigate the matter. The whole matter is a hoax, but Gavin is able to get Scottie to disregard his natural skepticism and agree to the deal. His deception of Scottie was intentional for Scottie, with his fear of heights, was perfect for Gavin's plan to murder his wife. The second instance of deception, and this leads from the first, was by Judy Barton (also Kim Novak). She deceives Scottie by pretending to be Madeline while intentionally and unintentionally playing upon his infatuation for her. The third deception is a reverse version of this, Scottie deceives Judy when he meets her a year after `Madeline's death'. She loves him, and he seems to indicate that he loves her too. But in reality he is only in love with the image of Madeline that she is able to bring out. If Scottie did not discover the truth, one wonders how their strange relationship would have evolved. The fourth instance of deception is between Gavin and Judy. She was his mistress and he had recruited her to aid him in his plan to murder his wife. However at the conclusion of their deal he discards her, leaving her with some money and jewels. The fifth deception is by Alfred Hitchcock of his audience. Like I mentioned in the first paragraph, Vertigo is a film that seems intentionally manipulative. Hitchcock actively works to confuse the viewer and constantly makes Vertigo take unexpected turns.
Vertigo is also a film about obsession. How the life of an ordinary man is completely transformed, and then destroyed because of his fixation on an ideal of a woman. This obsession completely consumes him and makes him lose touch with reality. By the end of the film, the likable good natured Scottie has turned into a disturbing fanatic. He is unable to see women for who they are and instead looks to see how best they can be made to resemble Madeline. Some critics have pointed out that this borders on necrophilia. Others suggest that this was autobiographical on Hitchcock's part, he had a penchant for remodeling women to bring them towards an ideal he had in his mind. This leads into Hitchcock's casting of Kim Novak to play the roles of Madeline and Judy. She was not his original choice; Hitchcock had Vera Miles in mind. Unfortunately, she got pregnant and had to pull out of the film. By this time, in his true style, Hitchcock had already meticulously planned out exactly what clothes Miles would have worn, how she would have looked and how she would have acted. When he substituted her with Novak he apparently asked Novak to in effect become Miles. This duality is reflected in the film, Novak is playing a character who is forced to be someone she is not and as an actress she too is being forced to be an actress she is not. The other interesting duality that can be found in the film is derived from its title, Vertigo. Vertigo is a sensation that psychologists attribute to a conflict in a person's mind between a fear of a falling and a desire to fall. This manifests itself in the film, often characters seem to want something and yet fear it. This is most noticeable in Scottie's friend Midge Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes). She definitely has some feeling for Scottie but is for some reason afraid to be attached to him. They had even been engaged for a brief period during their college years, until she had broken it off. The last aspect I'd like to touch upon is Hitchcock's careful use of color in this film. In all major scenes where Scottie and, Madeline or Judy appear together the colors of red and green are predominant. These are interesting choices, for red is usually associated with love and passion and green with jealousy, envy and sometimes the supernatural. Scottie first sees Madeline in a green gown in a restaurant with red walls. They first converse at his house when she is wearing a red robe and he is in a green sweater. Scottie's apartment door is red. Madeline drives a green car. Judy's walls are green, her carpet is red and the light that shines in to her apartment from the motel sign is green. When Judy's second transformation into Madeline is complete, she steps out with a green hue around her. The colors are carefully designed to convey a mood for the film, love and passion in the midst of jealousy and envy. Vertigo at the end of it is most certainly a thriller, capable of sending chills down one's spine. But it is not a suspense film and is instead an introspective drama into the mind of an ordinary person, forced to confront extraordinary issues.