Vertigo (film)

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For other uses of the word Vertigo, see Vertigo.

Template:Infobox Film Vertigo is a 1958 thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film is usually taken as a classic of the genre and is considered by many critics to be Hitchcock's masterpiece.

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The plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Vertigo tells the story of a San Francisco detective, Scottie (James Stewart), who leaves the police force (and develops acrophobia) after a fellow policeman falls to his death while the two are chasing a criminal across rooftops. But an old friend, Gavin Elster, hires him to follow Elster's wife Madeleine (Kim Novak). Elster claims that Madeleine often appears to be staring off into space and occasionally drives to points unknown and later has no recollection of anything having been amiss; in the course of various conversations he tells a skeptical Scottie that he believes Madeleine to have a mental illness in which she is possessed by a spirit of someone long dead, her own ancestor. Scottie tails Madeleine for several days. As he watches her, she visits the grave of a woman named Carlotta Valdes, who killed herself years ago; makes frequent visits to the San Francisco Museum of Fine Arts (The Legion of Honor), where she spends long periods of time gazing at a large portrait of Carlotta; and rents a room at a hotel which was once Carlotta's home. Madeleine also dresses like Carlotta, with identical hairstyle and jewelry.

Despite her trance-like, sometimes obsessive behavior and her suicidal tendencies — and despite the detective's former romantic involvement with a woman named Midge Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes), to whom he had been engaged years before — Scottie is strongly attracted to Madeleine, and resolves to save her from herself. After she jumps into San Francisco Bay in what appears to be a suicide attempt, Scottie pulls her from the water (seemingly unconscious), and brings her to his apartment, where he removes her wet clothing and puts her in his bed to recover from her ordeal. When she awakens, she puts on his dressing gown and joins him in the living room to dry off in front of the fire, where the two begin to fall in love. But when Scottie goes into the other room to answer a phone call from Elster, Madeleine disappears like a ghost (Hitchcock deliberately gives her an impossibly short time to get out of his apartment), only to reappear in his life shortly afterward. Midge, still nursing her own feelings for Scottie — and especially protective of him since the accident that caused him to leave the police force — becomes increasingly jealous.

When Madeleine and Scottie take a trip to see the giant redwood trees, she becomes almost a ghostly figure, walking like a wraith through the forest, and engaging in a reverie of what appears to be Carlotta's past. In a torment of confusion, Madeleine tells Scottie she has dreamed of a place that he identifies as Mission San Juan Bautista, and Scottie takes her there in an effort to conquer her disturbing dreams and, hopefully, cure her mental illness. But, once there, Madeleine is again seemingly possessed, and she runs into the mission's bell tower. Scottie's fear of heights renders him unable to follow her up the steep staircase, and Madeleine apparently hurls herself from the top of the tower to her death. Scottie suffers a nervous breakdown and flees the scene. He is placed in a mental hospital, where he descends into catatonic passivity. During his recovery, Scottie — and Midge, to her sorrow — realizes that he is still in love with Madeleine.

About a year later, Scottie (still brooding, and himself now wandering the streets like the mad Carlotta Valdes), begins to haunt the places where the earlier relationship happened. On one such visit (to a florist's shop where Madeleine habitually bought her ancestor's favorite flowers), he encounters a woman, Judy Barton, who reminds him strongly of his dead love -- though this girl is more "ordinary," even a bit vulgar in comparison with Madeleine's ethereal beauty. Scottie stalks Judy, and even wheedles his way into her residential-hotel room, where he hears her story: she is a simple girl from Salina, Kansas, making a life for herself in San Francisco after a series of bad relationships. After Scottie leaves, Judy writes him a letter in which she reveals (and we see in flashback) that one such relationship was with Elster, who hired her to impersonate Madeleine for Scottie's benefit, as part of Elster's scheme to murder his wife. But, in love with Scottie and guilty for the pain she has caused him, Judy loses her nerve and destroys the letter almost as soon as she has written it.

Scottie becomes obsessed with Judy, and gradually coaxes her into spending a lot of time with him. But any romantic possibility is thwarted by the memory of Madeleine. Scottie begins insisting that Judy dress like Madeleine, and even having her auburn hair dyed to Madeleine's wintry blonde; despite her protests, Judy eventually gives in. She is as obsessed with Scottie as he is with Madeleine.

Image:Vertigo bell tower.jpg

When Judy is completely made over as Madeleine, she comes to the hotel where he is waiting. She deliberately tries to retain some hint of her own personality by not wearing her hair in Madeleine's style; finally he persuades her that even this has to change. She goes into the bathroom and emerges, just as Madeleine emerged from his bedroom — the film echoes the earlier scene — and as Scottie embraces her to Bernard Herrmann's "Tristan and Isolde" theme, the past swirls about them and their relationship seems finally to be consummated, his obsession cured. At the moment when a new life is to begin for this couple, however, Judy makes a crucial mistake when she decides to wear a red jewelled pendant that he remembers Madeleine having worn, the same as in the painting of Carlotta. He brings Judy to Mission San Juan Batista and forces her to go up the tower once more, telling her that he wants to re-enact the scene in which he failed to save Madeleine. He is raving, saying he'll "bring her back"; however, it becomes clear that his real goal is to force a confession from Judy, and eventually she does break down: hired by Elster to impersonate Madeleine, she feigned suicidal tendencies in order to convince Scottie that Madeleine was mentally unstable, with the knowledge that Scottie's acrophobia would prevent him from following her up the bell tower. The real Madeleine was hurled from the tower by her husband. With no witnesses, and with Scottie's testimony supporting Madeleine's "insanity", her husband got away with murder.

As Scottie forces Judy to confess, they inch up the stairs until they make it to the top, whereupon Scottie declares, "I made it!" Scottie rages at her while Judy pleads that she loved him all along. Suddenly a shadowy figure appears at the top of the stairs, murmuring, "I heard voices." Judy, frightened, backs away from the approaching shadow and accidentally steps off the tower ledge. The figure steps into the light and is revealed to be a nun, who begins vigorously ringing the church bell, now partly as an alert that there has been a tragic accident. Scottie moves out onto the ledge and sways briefly, but remains stable as he stares down at Judy's fallen body: his vertigo is cured.

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The screenplay and its sources

The movie was adapted by Samuel W. Taylor and Alec Coppel from the French novel Sueurs froides: d'entre les morts (Cold Sweat: From Among the Dead) by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac. François Truffaut suggested that the novel was specifically written for Hitchcock by Boileau and Narcejac after Hitchcock was unable to buy the rights to their previous novel, Celle qui n'était plus, which was made into the movie Les Diaboliques. However, Narcejac has subsequently denied that this was their intention.

The film also alludes to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. Although the source novel's explicit references to the myth do not appear in the film, certain themes do, including the return of a dead beloved to life, and discovering the fatal consequences of "looking back."

The final script was written by Samuel Taylor from notes by Hitchcock. However, a number of elements survive from an earlier script by Alec Coppel, including the opening rooftop sequence, the Cypress Point kiss, the two visits to San Juan Bautista, and the famous nightmare sequence. When Taylor attempted to take sole credit for the screenplay, Coppel protested to the Writers' Guild, who determined that both writers were entitled to credit. It is believed by many that Hitchcock himself was primarily responsible for the character, structure, tone, and thematic richness of this, his most personal film.

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Cinematic qualities

Vertigo is notable for the "Hitchcock zoom," an in-camera perspective distortion special effect created by Hitchcock that suggests the dizzying effect that gives the film its title.

The film's famous score was composed by Bernard Herrmann. In many of the key scenes Hitchcock essentially gave the film over to Herrmann, whose melodies, echoing Richard Wagner's Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde, dramatically convey Scotty's obsessive love for the woman he imagines to be Madeleine. Recently, the American Film Institute named it as one of the best scores in the history of Cinema.

Vertigo was one of several 1950s Paramount films shot in the VistaVision widescreen format, a horizontal 35mm process developed to compete with several similar processes from other studios (such as 20th Century Fox's CinemaScope).

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Vertigo as a Hitchcock film

Image:Vertigopubstill.jpg Those interested in Hitchcock's biography have often noted the similarities between Scottie Ferguson's attitude toward Judy and Hitchcock's own attitude toward his leading actresses; Hitchcock took an active interest in moulding the on-screen appearance of his actresses to fit his vision of the perfect blonde, and the sequence in which Scottie orders Judy to gradually transform herself into Madeleine is often cited as an example of Hitchcock dramatizing his own obsessions.

Hitchcock used falling, and the threat of falling, in many of his films, for example Blackmail, Foreign Correspondent, Suspicion, Saboteur, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief, and North by Northwest. Critics have suggested that Vertigo uses this recurring motif as a metaphor for sexual obsession, existential angst, liebestod, or original sin.

Vertigo has become a touchstone film for feminist criticism of the movies, as has Hitchcock in general. The "makeover" of Judy is seen by feminist critics as exemplary of men making women over into the image they wish (and the dangerous acquiescence of women in that process); and — of course — as a symbol of the male gaze in movies, a form of visual murder. The ambiguities of the film complicate the making of simple judgements, however: for example, Scottie at various points (such as the dream sequence) seems himself to turn into Madeleine, since he too is being manipulated by another man (using Judy). Moreover, Hitchcock seems to be engaged in turning the tables on men in Vertigo, including himself. Hitchcock uses the theme of multiple gazes and multiple mirrors throughout to underscore the paradoxes of film. For example, the moment when Scottie hits upon the truth is a scene in a mirror which becomes a memory of a portrait which reflects a false obsession and frames a momentary lapse which reveals an obsession that even the heroine has not fully understood, and so on. The multiple mirrors and obsessive gazings and metaphors of acting and dreaming keep one guessing as to what Hitchcock's ultimate take on the male/female relationship in movies is. The real vertigo in the film is not the threat of a fall off the tower, but the hall of endless mirrors through which one can fall forever in search of an ideal image.

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Awards

Image:Stewartvertigo.jpg Vertigo was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White or Color and Best Sound.

Vertigo was not a commercial success when first released, and its critical reputation built slowly, due in part to its lack of availability: it was one of five films owned by the Hitchcock estate removed from circulation in 1973. When Vertigo was re-released on film and home video in 1983, its critical fortunes soared.

In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it #61 on its "100 Greatest Movies" list. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

In 2002, Vertigo was chosen the second greatest film of all time (behind Citizen Kane) by the Sight and Sound critics' poll.

In 2005, Vertigo came in second (to Goodfellas) in British magazine Total Film's book, 100 Greatest Movies of All Time.

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Restoration

After a controversial and lengthy restoration by Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz, the film was re-released to theaters in 1996. The new print featured restored color and a newly created audio track utilising modern recordings mixed in DTS digital surround sound. It was also exhibited for the first time in 70mm, a format similar in size to VistaVision in which it had been originally filmed.

Many cineastes consider the 1996 restoration substandard, introducing color values not seen in the original, though the restoration team says they spent much time and research finding the exact colors of the locations, cars, and skin tones (they even went so far as to get paint off the car James Stewart drives early in the film in order to research the color schemes). Significant color correction was necessary because of the fading of original negative. In some cases a new negative was created from the silver separation masters, but in many instances this proved impossible because the separation shrinkage, and because the 1958 separations were poorly made. Although the results are not noticeable on viewing the film, some elements were as many as eight generations away from the original negative.

The biggest point of contention is the significant altering of the soundtrack by adding completely new elements not present in the original film, omitting important details and generally changing the overall tone of the film. The 2005 Hitchcock Masterpiece Collection DVD contains the original mono track.

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San Francisco Bay Area locations in Vertigo

Vertigo is notable for its extensive location footage of the San Francisco Bay Area, leading some to claim the city itself as an important character in the script; San Francisco is famous for its steep hills, expansive views, and tall, arching bridges. Some have noted that in the numerous driving scenes shot in the city, the main characters' cars are almost always pictured heading down the city's steeply inclined streets.

Visiting the San Francisco film locations (perhaps most famously in a subsection of Chris Marker's documentary montage Sans Soleil) has something of a cult following as well as modest tourist appeal.

Areas that were shot on location (not recreated in a studio), and that still exist:

  • Mission San Juan Bautista, although the all-important tower had to be matted in with a painting using studio effects. Hitchcock had first visited the Mission before the tower was torn down due to dry rot, and was reportedly very displeased to find it missing when he returned to film his scenes. The original tower was much smaller and less dramatic than the special effects version however, so in the end the change could be considered fortuitous.
  • Mission Dolores, where for many years tourists could see the actual Carlotta Valdes headstone featured in the film. Eventually, the headstone was removed as the Mission considered it disrespectful to the dead to house a tourist attraction grave for a fictional person.
  • Fort Point National Historic Site and the Golden Gate Bridge
  • The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco
  • Big Basin Redwoods State Park, although the film claims these scenes are from Muir Woods National Monument.
  • Cypress Point, a well-known location along the 17 Mile Drive near Pebble Beach.
  • California Palace of the Legion of Honor: the Carlotta Valdes portrait was lost after being removed from the gallery, but many of the other paintings in the background of the portrait scenes are still on view.
  • Coit Tower (appears in many background shots but is not featured). Hitchcock once said that he included it as a phallic symbol.
  • "The Brocklebank" (1000 Mason Street): Gavin and Madeleine's apartment building still looks essentially the same. Across the street from the Fairmont Hotel, where Hitchcock usually stayed when he visited and where many of the cast and crew stayed during filming.
  • 351 Buena Vista East: the sanatorium where Scottie recovers. Now apartments but looks the same from the outside. Across the street from the southern (most elevated) end of Buena Vista Park. Excellent views of the back of the building, dramatically situated on Buena Vista heights, are available from the Corona Heights neighborhood park.
  • The York Hotel [1] 940 Sutter Street: When Scottie first catches a glimpse of Judy Barton, he follows her back to her hotel and invites her to dinner at Ernie's. Judy's room is located on the third floor of the hotel, whose interiors were all created back in Hollywood. The flashing green neon of the "Hotel Empire" sign creates a ghostly effect for Judy's transformation into Scottie's make-believe vision of Madeleine, although the neon sign was replaced when the Hotel was re-named The York Hotel.
  • Ernie's Restaurant (847 Montgomery St.) In Chinatown, not far from Scottie's apartment (900 Lombard). No longer operating.
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Remakes

  • Director Brian DePalma made a mystery-thriller inspired by Vertigo in 1976 called Obsession with Cliff Robertson and Geneviève Bujold. Bernard Herrmann, who scored Vertigo, also scored Obsession.
  • DePalma's 1984 movie Body Double also featured many plot elements from Vertigo.
  • In Mel Brook's film High Anxiety, which is a pastiche/homage to all Hitchcock films, the final scene takes place in a twisting staircase inside a bell tower, an obvious nod to Vertigo.
  • Paul Verhoeven's Basic Instinct is often seen as a stylistic and thematic imitation of Vertigo, especially in regard to the character Catherine Tramell. For a comparative website, see the external links section.
  • Faith No More's music video for their 1997 song 'Last Cup Of Sorrow' was directly inspired by Vertigo. It features the lead singer, Mike Patton dressed in the same outfit as James Stewart's character, trailing a blonde played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, respectively dressed the same as Vertigo 's female lead Madeleine. Many scenes are recreated from the film, such as the opening rooftop sequence, Madeleine's plunge into San Francisco bay, Mike Patton moving up and down a stepladder, the belltower sequence complete with the famous Hitchcock Zoom and the psychadelic dream sequence. The emphasis is mainly on parody, key moments including drummer Puffy Bordin sweeping Mike Patton head in the dream sequence with a broom (presumedly a reference to Vertigo's scene where Midge is describing to Scottie that music can clear the cobwebs out of your head like a broom), bassist Billy Gould cross dressing, Judy Barton being a black wigged sado-masochist, and Leigh fainting when she sees a shadow in the tower, which ends up being drummer Puffy Bordin eating a bagel.
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External links

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