Vertigo (Collector's Edition)

Media:	DVD
Directed by:	Alfred Hitchcock
Starring:	James Stewart, Kim Novak
Release date:	02 September, 2003
List price:	~~$19.98~~
Our price:	$14.99 that is 25% off!

Vertigo (Collector's Edition)

Average rating: Stars

Hitchcock's Masterpiece

Watch Vertigo. If you don't, you're missing out. This film is part film-noir, part gothic thriller. I assign the latter label because, like the best of gothic literature (Poe, Jackson), Vertigo sets up a situation which may involve the supernatural, or may not. Is there a ghost stalking Madeline? Perhaps, or perhaps everything that is going is is perfectly natural, and simply psychological. And like the best of gothic tales, of course that is the case. There are no haunted houses, only haunted minds. But then, even this is not all that is going on in this brilliant film, and that's where the noir aspects come into play.

James Stewart here gives his darkest performance as an acrophobic detective who lets an instant of infatuation become an obsession that may potentially ruin his entire life. This movie is fascinating on many levels, and it raises some interesting questions as well. Many films attempt to paint the idea of being forever obsessed with the same person throughout life as the pinnacle of romance (such as the silly movie The Notebook). In Vertigo we get an entirely different take on what is essentially a sheer inability to let go of something and move on. It's not romantic; it's utter madness. It is, after all, an obsession, and obsessive madness can be one's undoing.

I cannot fully discuss the vagaries of this creepy, haunting, and magnificent film without giving away some of its many plot twists--so I won't. Watch Stewart however as he tries to madly achieve his own insane salvation, attempting to create a second chance by molding Judy, forcing her to look like someone else--and watch Judy as she becomes jealous of who Stewart wants her to look like. I will say no more. The true tragedy of Stewarts character is that, in his madness, he ignores the woman who has always loved him, who wants to be with him, who would have always stayed with him and even taken care of him. He throws away this possibility of happiness for an obsession.

A few people have complained about the ending of this film. I do not know why. The ending is perfect. Judy, it must be remembered (and I won't give anything away here) is haunted by something in her past, and likely believes that at that instant in the bell tower that her past (Valdez?) has caught up with her in a supernatural form of justice. That is why she is frightened.

Some film critics have pointed out how Stewart frequently played a different kind of role after WWII than he did before he was in WWII. Before the war, we had Jimmy Stewart, and after, James Stewart. Before, we had Stewart and Capra, after, Stewart and Hitchcock. Stewart began exploring other characters, darker characters, and here gives one of the most brilliant portrayals of haunting madness ever caught on film.

This movie is not only a must see, it demands repeated viewings. As Scorcese said, it's amazing that Hitchcock was able to make such a personal film in such a major studio using such major stars. I agree. Watch Vertigo, and let it pull you into its spell. This film is an absolute classic, and it doesn't hurt that it contains Bernard Hermann's greatest score. The music alone sends chills up and down the spine. Note: As Stewart and Novak drive around, keep an eye on what lane they're in. One of the most famous movie bloopers in film history is that, as they drive around northern California, sometimes they're on the right side of the road, and sometimes they're on the left side of the road. (Hitchcock was British.)

Vertigo (Collector's Edition) - James Stewart, Kim Novak

Masterpiece Among Masterpieces

Alfred Hitchcock made several masterpieces and many excellent movies that don't quite approach masterpiece status. I think arguments for masterpiece status can be made for Rebecca, Notorious, The Birds, Psycho, North By Northwest, Rear Window, Strangers on a Train, Shadow of a Doubt (Hitch's favorite), & Vertigo. Everyone has their own canon, of course. In my mind, the only three indispensible Hitchcock movies are North By Northwest, Rear Window & Vertigo. Six out of five stars for these best of the best movies. Vertigo is one of the most serious of all the Hitchcock movies. No black humor, no jokes, no witty exchanges, just straight ahead suspense, creepiness and psychological horror and dread. James Stewart & Kim Novak are spectacular as the inner-demon haunted couple. He has a sick obsession with her & she is damaged by a past she only alludes to. Also, Vertigo is perfectly set in the most evokative of cities: San Francisco. Vertigo is a fascinating post-noir.

James Stewart, Kim Novak - Vertigo (Collector's Edition)

Bad jump

I think that this movie, though interesting, is overrated and has flaws. I notice that the only time it seems permissible to give Vertigo less than 5 stars is if you are criticizing the DVD quality, not the movie itself. Well, I will have to break the mold here and give the movie itself only 3 stars because of its flaws. We have a tendency as a culture to place certain things on pedestals and not look at them critically, and Hitchcock is one of them. It's like the story of The Emperor's New Clothes. This movie is good, but it's not worthy of being the icon that people make it out to be.

If you haven't seen it yet (and you are the only one left in the country who hasn't), don't read the rest of this review, because I am about to completely reveal the ending. It is the biggest flaw in the movie. It is terrible, not because it is sad, but because it is just plain stupid. That was my reaction, and it was also the reaction of the person I was seeing it with. Why? Because it is just plain stupid.

Judy/Madeline gets spooked by the approach of a nun, and jumps to her death. Idiotic ending. But it fulfills the old film adage that crime doesn't pay. Since she had lied to our hero, and since she had been part of a murder plot, it was not permissible for her to end up in a happy marriage. She had to die because crime doesn't pay, and she had to be punished for her lying and her complicity in a murder. The rules had to be observed. Reality be damned. Reasonableness be damned. Let her jump to her death the way the murder victim's body was thrown. What a nice way to tie up loose ends. Sorry, it's just too damn stupid.

Being prepared to overrate Hitchcock, I was surprised early in the movie when Jimmy Stewart's character took a fall from a step ladder and landed oh so conveniently in the arms of his pal. When you fall from a step ladder like that, you come crashing down, messily, probably backwards. His fall was so staged, so unrealistic, so neat and clean. If you have seen it, and if you have any standards of reality, this scene has to offend you for its phoniness.

Other than that, I have to commend this movie for being interesting and giving us some good twists and turns. But to say it is the best picture ever made, or close to it, is an insult to movies that are better.

It all reminds me a bit of the overrating of the Hawthorne book Scarlet Letter. It too has a foolishly unrealistic ending, and it too is overrated. Hester Prynne, unexplainably, abandons her daughter and grandchild in England in order to return to New England where she was humiliated. What? What a load of nonsense. The ending to this movie is almost as weak. Hey Charlie, let's have the chick jump from the same place that the body was thrown from, wouldn't that be a hoot. Yeah, great, nice neat little ending. Come on.

If you love this movie and want to tell me off, don't email me. Don't do anything. This is my opinion. I'm entitled to it, and you are entitled to yours. It's amazing how Amazon customers can be so opposed to freedom of speech and expression if the opinions expressed differ from their own. Some people just don't "get" America and what it stands for.