Another proof that Academy Award is a bad joke.

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2009)

Vertigo is a better Hitchcock movie if not the best. It's indeed not perfect. The bottom line is a very rigid ending, a (possible)miscasting for a major female character and nothing else. If the Oscar overlooked Hitchcock again solely for such reasons, I would say it's a bad joke.
Technically stunning, this is the first words came to many critics. Visual effects should not be just defined as those special CG effects, but also the effects a movie's visual presentation on audiences. Vertigo is a case that such visual qualities affect you deeply. You must follow a woman, follow her wherever she goes, follow her beyond your logics and emotional boundary. Such a psychological process has been successfully presented using camera. Thanks to Stewart's emotional broken performance and Kim Novak's haunting existence, such a feeling is still as stunning and fascinating as 50 years ago.
Contrast to my review, many critics listed Vertigo's ending as one of the best endings provided in Movie history. Tragedy and loss repeated itself and one must face his/her own deeds when it comes to judgment. That is my interpretation. However, it's also very obviously rigid. The entire movie has a strong undertone of tragedy, which renders Stewart's character into a sympathized object for many. If the protagonist would finally brought everything to justice and waited for Judy Button's release from jail, it would be perfectly logical, natural and positive. It seemed like they very intentionally made it a tragedy to the very last minute, which may be unnecessary. After all, it's a matter of taste.
Except for that, Vertigo should have won best picture in Oscar, and many other awards. Sadly it didn't. But again, we see movies for good movies, not for Oscar.
If Vertigo would teach us anything at all, that is "do not trust beautiful women especially those who like you". Magneto must be a Vertigo fan anyway. Ha ha!