The drama of an opera. Wide screen restored VHS version, with documentary.

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 2000)

VERTIGO
First viewing, and I wasn't disappointed. The wide screen VHS release restored original color and music, and a documentary gave insight into the film's creation and restoration. The original trailer, complete with overdone narration, is more dated by far than the film.
A note of obsession was sustained throughout with the extraordinarily dramatic Bernard Hermann score, moody cinematography, and settings which supposedly sparked the idea for the film in Hitchcock's mind. The convoluted plot caught me off guard, as a mystery should. One flaw might be over-long scenes of Jimmy Stewart driving, although the music made them purposeful. Stewart and Barbara Bel Geddes were perfect, and Kim Novack outdid herself in dual roles. The imaginative title sequence is also worth noting.

Somehow the film made me think of opera.