Vertigo

There is a shot early in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo that takes place in a restaurant called Ernie's. In the scene before, Scottie (Jimmy Stewart in perhaps the best performance of his career), a retired police detective, has been asked by his friend Gavin Elster to follow his wife Madeline (Kim Novak). Gavin believes that a dead spirit is possessing his wife, and he wants Scottie for the job, and he in turn only reluctantly agrees. That evening at the restaurant, as he is sitting at the bar, Scottie watches as the Elsters walk by, and we see Madeline for the very first time. Through some extraordinarily well-placed lighting on Novak, we get the sense that she is saint-like. And her beauty immediately transfixes Scottie.There is no objection to the fact that Hitchcock made several masterpieces in his day, but Vertigo, a movie about romantic obsession and unparalleled fear, is perhaps his greatest film. Its feeling of being surreal is unlike anything I've seen in any film, and the performances by its two lead actors immensely support that feeling.The film will perhaps become very recognized as being the only film to rank above Orson Welles' Citizen Kane in the latest Sight and Sound poll by the British Film Institute; and this particular poll ranks not just the best American films, but the best films of all time ranging from all over the world. Citizen Kane had held the top spot from 1962-2002, and in the last poll before 2012, Vertigo ranked second. There is a debate as to whether Hitchcock's film grew in popularity among the critics or if it has to do with the fact that more critics were polled last year. Does either side win out? Perhaps, but both play a major role in the overthrow of Welles.A Hitchcock regular, Stewart is absolutely superb in this role, mostly due to his good natured and caring personification. But he certainly exemplifies what it means to be so obsessed romantically that it literally drives one into madness. The most famous example in the film comes when Scottie is dreaming, specifically of the events he has witnessed. He dreams of Carlotta Valdes, her empty grave, her necklace, and her actually being there at the courtroom, standing between Scottie and Gavin. The colors used to express Scottie's obsessions and fears are used brilliantly, and when he wakes up in a sweat, we know that we are dealing with not only a great performance, but also one of the best in all of cinema.What is great about Vertigo is that it not only deals with Scottie's romantic obsession, but also with Madeline's obsessions; early in the film when Scottie follows her, we see Madeline standing in a graveyard, looking over the grave of a woman named Carlotta Valdes, who was dead by the age of 25; and as coincidence has it, Madeline is 25. (Ironically, Novak was 25 when the film was first released in 1958). Next, she visits an art museum and studies a painting entitled Portrait of Carlotta, which is occupied by a woman who shares a heavy resemblance. Her checked name at a hotel is Carlotta Valdes, and Gavin tells Scottie some time later that Valdes is Madeline's great-grandmother who tragically committed suicide, but she has no knowledge of this; and until the first scene at the church and again until the film's climactic moment, we ask ourselves as to why Madeline is obsessed with Carlotta Valdes.One of the scenes towards the end of the film is particularly remarkable (in addition to an already remarkable film): Scottie sees Madeline's image in Judy, and so he has her wear Madeline's clothes, her exact makeup, and her exact hairstyle. This is as far as romantic obsession can get, and there will probably never be a better example in all of film. Scottie is obsessed with Madeline's beauty when he first sees her in the restaurant, and he is obsessed still when he dresses Judy up like his lost love.One critic thought in 1958 that Novak was just a little bit more than competent. I guess he didn't realize the beauty of what it means to act, because her performance is one of the most towering in all of cinema. As Madeline, she is able to convey mysterious and even erotic emotions that seduce Scottie. As Judy, she is an average, everyday woman who has played the part exceptionally, and now it's time to move on. How she can move from one persona to the other and have it still be the same exact person without any doubt whatsoever is simply stunning. As a whole, it is one of the most complicated pieces of work by any actress in the history of film.In the whole grand scheme of things, the villain is of course Gavin. There are few things more evil than to take advantage of someone's disability (especially when that someone is a good friend) and then stab them in the back. But we must ask again: why? He claims early in the film that he married his way into his position of power, but is that the only reason he married Madeline? He is given very little screen time and is played out like an innocent friend, but as we know (unless of course you've never had the fortune of ever seeing the film), he could very well be one of Hitchcock's most intelligent and despicable villains.At the heart of the film however is the score by Bernard Herrmann. From the opening title music with that beautiful D augmented arpeggio to the very finale of the film, Herrmann may well have turned one of the great films of the 1950s into one of the single best motion pictures ever made. It is an astoundingly beautiful score, perhaps one of the two or three best the composer ever wrote.The ending of the film is unbelievably iconic and powerful. As Scottie drags Judy up the stairs of the church, he breaks into nervous sweats and tells her how it happened, but then as they climb further up, two things happen: the first is that he manages to convince her to tell the truth; the other is that he is finally able to overcome his fear of heights, which, despite his obsession and hinted lust, became his breaking point earlier in the film. As we see in the opening of the film, his acrophobia led to the death of a police officer, which leads him to retire from his work. Scottie won't let it happen a third time.There are debates as to whether or not Vertigo is Hitchcock's greatest film. It seems to be the consensus, as it was the only one of the director's ever to rank in the top ten of any Sight and Sound poll. But that is superfluous; by looking at some of his most well regarded work (North by Northwest, Rear Window, Notorious, or Psycho), none of them are as fascinating or as complicated as this tour de force. In Vertigo, Alfred Hitchcock reaches his most flawless.

Regarded now as one of Hitchcock's best if not THE best of his films "Vertigo" was not very successful with critics or moviegoers at the time of its release in 1958. Maybe the May-December romance was a little off putting. Apparently, after the film's lackluster performance, Hitchcock trying to point fingers away from himself blamed James Stewart as maybe too old for the part. Or, maybe its multi layered, highly complex plot and deeply personal themes were a bit much at the time. It even has a scene of psychedelic imagery thrown in during the nightmarish mental breakdown scene a few years ahead of the "grooving 60's". Today it is considered a masterpiece, and it bears up very well under multiple viewings. Indeed, I manage to catch something new and my understanding and appreciation for the film grows each time I watch it. There are multiple "gotchas" and just as you think you've got it figured out Hitchcock throws you for another loop. The suspense, psychological terror and betrayal is quite something. By the end of the 2nd act you feel tremendously sad for both main characters. One crippled with an obsession of recreating an unobtainable fantasy and the other desperate for actual love, redemption and reality.The restoration team of Katz and Harris do this 4K remastering proud. This is one of those "hit it out of the park" 4K Blu-ray releases of a classic movie. Color and detail are so realistic it creates almost a 3D depth yet retaining all the light film grain without dreaded DNR and edge enhancement. Blacks and shadow detail are well defined with no real crush. This could be a demo disc on how great these old classic films can look on our modern displays in the home. The DTS:X sound is excellent as well. You are enveloped with Bernard Herrman's wonderful, lush music score with good dynamics and the dialog is very clear. Supplements are quite extensive with many interviews, documentaries and behind the scenes looks.This 2-disc set is of course a must own for any hardcore fan of The Master. I can also highly recommend this set to mainstream movie lovers on just the strength of its amazing and complex storytelling and the stunning demo worthy restoration job done with the image and sound.