"That is a matter between him and his own conscience"

Rating: 10/10 (23 November 2006)

Perhaps the most significant thing about this masterpiece from Alfred Hitchcock is that it is the film which broke Jimmy Stewart. Hitchcock took the ultimate nice guy, the honest, likable everyman of heart-warming Frank Capra romantic comedies and gradually turned him into an obsessive, mentally deranged control freak. A very deliberate stroke of genius in casting, but it is only one of many things that make this an incredible picture.
Hitchcock's films are not known for their visual style. There was always the occasional attention grabbing close-up or freakish angle, but by and large he made his impact through pacing, plotting and expressionist arrangement. Vertigo is the exception  it really is a feast for the eyes. Most important are the colours, a fact which Hitchcock establishes right from the start with the kaleidoscopic opening credit sequence. He shows full mastery of Technicolor, comparable to the films of Michael Powell. Each location has its own colour scheme  neutral light browns for Midge's flat, traffic-light red for Ernie's restaurant, glowing green for the hotel where Judy stays. The green motif  here symbolising rebirth  crops up again and again in relation to Madeleine and Judy. Even the water she attempts to drown herself in has a greenish sheen to it.
One thing that characterises Hitchcock's films is that, no matter how complicated the plot is, it is conveyed in a way that the film can be understood in a single viewing. You're never left wondering who some minor character was supposed to be or confused about some character's motivation. Vertigo is no exception, although it is one of the most complex and twisting plots of any Hitchcock picture. He dispenses with his trademark suspense (with the exception of the red-herring opening scene, Scotty is never actually placed in any danger) and plunges into the depths of his psychological streak. It is perhaps also Hitch's only genuine film noir, although it is rarely referenced as such (probably because noirs are typically in black and white). It does however have all the typical noir elements  a femme fatale who leads the hero astray, a kind but plain woman who loves him and, in between the two, an upstanding, well-meaning lead man whose life unravels because of his own faults.
Vertigo is also as abstract as Hitchcock's early Fritz Lang-inspired efforts, but here done infused with the more confident later Hitchcock style. There are colour filters, dream-like cinematography (particularly good in the sequoia forest sequence), the famous zooming-in, dollying-out technique and an animated dream sequence. The dazzling imagery could be seen as prefiguring the influence of psychedelia a decade later, although really it is perhaps only the logical extension of the German Expressionist style. It's only really an updated version of the superimposing of images and casting of shadows in films by Fritz Lang and FW Murnau. For this reason Hitchcock could be called one of the truest heirs of the German Expressionist movement, and not just for the psychological angle.
It's an amazing accomplishment of both lead actors that they are both essentially playing two different characters each. James Stewart starts off in his comfortable, familiar friendly type that he is used to playing, but by the end of the picture he has transformed into an cruel, obsessive monster. Kim Novak also plays two very different roles as the prim, icy Madeleine and the worldly and down-to-earth Judy. Barbara Bel Geddes gives a great supporting role as Midge.
Another thing worth a mention is Bernard Hermann's score. I'm not a big fan of Hermann, but I'd say this is his best score for Hitchcock. He matches the action perfectly. There are several long sections without dialogue, and here the music plays a similar role to a silent film score. In fact the timing of every element in the film is spot on  one example being a wave crashing on the shore in the background when Scotty and Madeleine first kiss.
The first time I saw Vertigo I was hooked, right from the opening moments to the final shot. While its power to hold me has diminished somewhat over repeated viewings (a weakness of all Hitchcock films, the flipside to their being instantly enjoyable) it still looks amazing and it can still send shivers down my spine. It's an incredible achievement.