Disguised as a Detective Thriller!

Rating: 10/10 (14 November 2002)

The opening title credits of Vertigo have to be the most alluring, engulfing, provoking titles Hollywood has ever seen. The spirals guide you into the state of mind of the characters, as well as the tone of the film.
Jimmy Stuart, plays against type, classic of Hitchcock's directorial style. He transforms Stuart from the Aw Shucks character we all love, to an obsessive, anxiety-driven flawed human being. And Kim Novack- how did she learn to act so quickly? Her performance is breathtaking to say the least.
What makes Vertigo very enjoyable for me is that it's a love story disguised as a detective thriller. Sure, the suspense is there, and more effective than ever, but this movie is about LOVE. Oh, love justifies why Judy lets Scotty do those horrible things to her. Love explains why Scotty loses her in the first place. Hitchcock has proven himself as the master of suspense, but I think that this film, along with Notorious, elevates him to a director that understands the burning passion that can exist between two people.
The music, once again Bernard Herman has come through, really ties the film together. There is actually more music than dialog, setting the mood and hypnotizing us ever so gently. The nightmare sequence is reason enough to see it- so abstract, so expressionistic. Finally, the use of color and> cinematography bring forth a dimension that was totally new and unexpected in Hollywood.
I would argue that Vertigo is Hitchcock's best film. I would argue that it's even one of the best American films ever.