Figure One - Poster
Vertigo is a 1958 psychological thriller film directed by Alfred
Hitchcock, It is the story of a retired police detective suffering from
acrophobia who is hired as a private investigator to follow the wife of an
acquaintance to uncover the mystery of her peculiar behaviour.
·
Release: 1954
·
Director:
Alfred Hitchcock
· Genre: Thriller
Vertigo starts off with a close up shot females face, which show
obsession with the female, then the camera pans to her lips which maybe stand
for lust and then to the eyes for love, which are all the emotions Scottie has
for Madeleine.
After the scene with the females close up shoot, Vertigo hits the ground running, with two
police men chasing a guy on the roof tops, then Scottie doesn’t clear the jump
and his partner ends up falling off after this scene the film’s pace slows down,
what keeps the film interesting is how Scottie deals with his Vertigo.
Figure Two - Jeff
One of the most interesting things in Vertigo is James
Stewarts character slowly transform from a good retired police officer to this
bad obsessive man who doesn’t care about Judy feelings at all because all he
wants is the woman he fell in love with. Which makes one think, did the
obsession with Madeleine was so much he couldn’t even tell it was her even
though all what had change in her appearance was her colour.
“You watch this guy going slowly over the brink and realize, good
grief, this is Jimmy Stewart.” (Clark 2000)
Going back to obsession, Lust and love are strong themes
throughout the film, Scottie falls in love with Madeleine, and after she jumps
from the church, the love for her dies away but then he bumps into Judy and the
lust begins for her due to her appearance reminding him of Madeleine, then the obsession
kicks in, he starts making her change her appearance, till the audience find
out that she is in fact the woman he fell in love with.
“A haunting meditation on sexual politics, romantic love, and
obsession, Vertigo is one of the greatest surreal movies ever made.” (Levy
2011)
Figure Three - Wax Model
The look of is generally artificial, weather it was the
performance from Kim Novak or when she was playing as Madeleine, there was a
moment in the film where she paused and she looked a wax figure.
“Justifying Vertigo's poor initial performance, it is a film that
requires distance, as well as the completion of Hitchcock's career. It is a
moment of acknowledgment in the final, retrospective establishment of the
director's frequent theme.” (Taylor 2003)
Illustrations
Bibliography
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