That end was so ridiculous haha
I don't know if I went into this with high expectations because of the critical acclaim it has, but I was left a bit confused at the end as to why Vertigo is so lauded.
I love many movies from this era and indeed Hitchcock's work (I especially love Rear Window) but hadn't seen this one before. The first half of the film was enjoyable and felt like a slow burn, unfolding towards some thrilling conclusion. James Stewart is always watchable and the cast in general is good, but I felt the film's second half drastically let it down. There were abrupt developments, such as Stewart's character Scotty getting hospitalised then suddenly free again, and then there's how Scotty displays a manipulative stalker-like side when he finds Kim Novak's character again, and pretty much holds her captive for the remainder of the film - until her death marks the almost hilariously abrupt ending.
I certainly wanted to like this film, and perhaps a second viewing will unlock some of its charms, but as a first watch and impression, Vertigo was sadly lacking for such a lauded film by an acclaimed director.
These films are 60 years old... They are masterpieces. But time defeats all foes...
What we have here is a masterful screenplay and direction to match. A real whodunit that needs to be paced and spoon-fed to the viewer to get the most mileage from the yarn.
And so it has aged.
Modern viewers will struggle with the slow pacing and over-repetition of the first half. The misogynistic behaviour. The extremely abrupt ending.
Hitchcock made some great films. This is still one of them but it suffers as all his films now do. Time.
I think Rear Window was his masterpiece. It's the one I recall most favorably. I'll have to rewatch that at some point and hope it weathers well.
Hitchcock and Jimmy Stewart were a really good pairing. Like De Niro and Scorcese, their best works are intertwined.
7/10
Great! Just great! Nothing else to say!
One of the most unique and intruigung mystery-thrillers. The well-thought out, perfectly-paced and unpredictable storyline, along with pristine direction and incredible performances made the film a gripping experience from start to finish.
My Rating 8
Pros:
Performances
Story
Direction
Never Ending suspense
Cons:
Dull 10 minutes pre Climax
Editing should have been better
There are only two things that bother me about "Vertigo". James Stewart's "Scottie" follows Kim Novak around a little too long. This makes the film drag at the beginning. And Scottie seems too old to be romantically involved with Kim Novak's Madeleine. Other than that this is just masterful.
There is so much to be awed by. The wonderful shots of San Francisco. Scottie's technicolor nightmare. Bernard Herrmann's beautiful score (which is on my short list of favorites). But I think I'm ultimately sold by the overwhelming obsession that Scottie has for Madeleine. It's painful and at first. You feel sorry for him. Then it turns into some pretty disgusting behavior. When Kim Novak's character emerges from behind a locked hotel room door, the way she walks out from a white-green haze is absolutely haunting.
I don't think this is a perfect movie and I know it has recently been voted as the greatest film of all time by Sight & Sound. It's not in my Top Ten or anything, but there is so much here that is so good I have no choice but to rate it as high as I can.
Despite what critics say, “Vertigo” might not be the best film of all time, but it's an impressive work indeed. A fascinating mystery that masterfully portrays a woman’s inner conflict and a psychopath’s pathetic obsession for something that is not real (his attempt at “resurrecting” Madeleine by humiliating Judy as a woman, his lifetime search for a love that is not ordinary despite having someone who truly cares always beside him).
I loved how the meticulous camerawork goes along with the structure of the film, with wide angles that follow Scottie’s eyes through the investigation, warmer closeups after he finds love, and again wide but this time disorienting cuts in the third part as the mystery unfolds and Scottie loses his mind.
The theme of the “spiral“ associated with the feeling of vertigo is recurrent both visually and narratively. Technicolor is used as an expressive means, with vivid and vibrant colors standing for Scottie’s passion and fantasies, and dark, pale palettes once he faces reality in the ending. Judy is often associated with different shades green, bright for her dress as Madeleine, dim when she connects with Carlotta at the cemetery and at the museum. During her iconic metamorphosis scene in the hotel room, the green neon lights paint the whole room in an eerie, unnatural tint that creates an uncanny atmosphere and points out Scottie’s twisted desire to connect to an otherworldly dimension.
The special effects and painted sceneries surely show their limits, but also found tasteful uses in the memorable nightmare sequence.
The script and acting are not always up to par, at times leaning towards soap-opera level melodrama, but we should not forget that they reflect the taste of a sixty-year-old Hollywood.
Pure Hitchcock gold. Another masterpiece.
A classic movie although a bit slow. Some pretty good twists. Easily worth a watch.
I was prepared to give this a 10 right up till the scene where Judy comes out of the bathroom in her hotel dressed like Madelaine and the kiss, bathed in green light (reminiscent of the dress we first see "Madelaine" in) . However, everything after that scene brought it down to a 7 for me, just seemed like a weaker ending than the horror of both these people living the rest of their lives haunted by a woman who never really existed .
A very dull film with an extremely boring story, highly unlikeable characters, and an uninteresting plot.
It begins interesting enough, a bit slow maybe, but nothing that bad. After the twist it gets a bit weird if you ask me. The whole dress up part is kind of uncomfortable, but the ending is just way to sudden. What the hell was that even…
The nun at the end is so savage lmaoooooo
One of those masterpieces that’s surprisingly divisive among cinephiles. Watching it multiple times will probably lead to a more positive opinion, because it’s one those movies where you notice new details once you know the full context. I think it’s hard to argue for this being bad: you can see how it inspired tons of other filmmakers (most notably David Lynch), the dreamlike quality of the filmmaking is well executed, Novak and Stewart both give excellent, detailed performances and the mystery keeps you guessing until the end. It’s Hitchcock’s artsiest, most visionary film, but to me it’s not among his most entertaining or emotional. Still, I appreciate the character study going on here, delving into themes like obsession, manipulation and gender dynamics, with the exploration of those themes feeling ahead of their time. Technically it’s excellent, though I would argue his use of music gets overbearing here and there, which leads to some really cheesy calls during key moments.
7.5/10
Nothing to say, who am I to judge.
I feel like it's a bit long and slow in places, and the ending is a bit weird. But I liked it a lot. My second favorite Hitchcock movie after "Rear Window"
A Hitchcock film was the last place where I would think to find such a hard-hitting reflection and exercise on the toxicity of the male gaze and men’s deep rooted and perverted need to control and mold women to their liking. A quick search on Hitchcock’s intentions with this film shows that he himself is most likely aware of his own perverse way of perceiving and fetishising specific women. I don’t know if that makes him more or less likeable as a man, but it certainly makes him even more fascinating as an artist.
Perhaps this wasn't the best of Hitchcocks movies to start with but I was very unimpressed. Far too many loopholes and empty scenes. I know I shouldn't hold the same societal standards from 2020 to the early 50's, but it was very hard from a females perspective to watch the misognystic role of the helpless wife fully dependent on a man to give her life meaning.
Apparently the best film Hitchcock ever made! The critics are wrong, of course, as North By Northwest, The Birds, Rear Window, and Psycho rank higher in my estimation. Vertigo is quite dull really. Sure, there's a great twist but its a slog to get there, and after the twist is revealed, the film drags on to a rushed conclusion. People will disagree with me, I guess, and they will tell me that this is a Hitchcockian masterpiece. For me, however, it's a Poppycockian piece of work from the usually reliable suspense master.
Jimmy Stewart's fourth and final collaboration with Alfred Hitchcock, starring as John Ferguson, a detective whose life unravels when he develops acrophobia amidst a rooftop foot chase. A troubling picture in many ways, from its complex, effectively unsettling filmmaking to the distressing changes undertaken by Ferguson in the third act.
Hitchcock is, of course, a master of the craft and there's much to be learned from his efforts behind the camera (the now-infamous dolly zoom, tricks with lighting and foreshadowing, a casual pace that somehow never seems to grow stale) but also plenty to wonder about the man himself from the actions of his on-screen counterpart. In a Hitchcock film, it's nothing new for a visibly older gentleman to effortlessly draw the affections of a young blonde. Stewart's no exception in this film, pulling buxom Kim Novak (twenty-five years his junior), but his particular brand of obsession quickly grows dark and insistent, leading to some very squeamish scenes as he draws close to unraveling the conspiracy that's ensnared them both.
Of course, Ferguson ultimately pays a price for this turn, but his greater judgment is never laid out on the screen. Rather, it's abruptly left to the scrutiny of the viewing audience, with more than a nudge to suggest he may not be completely without alibi. Expertly concocted and tragic from a bird's-eye perspective, but worrying from a more introspective one.
Image 4/5 and sound 3/5. One of Alfred Hitchcock's best films
Review by Kurtis MoneyVIP 8BlockedParentSpoilers2016-08-20T16:23:55Z
I have been baffled for years as to why this is ranked so high in the Hitchcock canon. I've always remembered this as being a bit slow and boring like nothing happens, so I decided to give it another chance on Blu-ray. The good news is...the Blu-ray restoration looks amazing. Seeing a late 1950s San Francisco on film is truly spectacular. The bad news is...this movie is just as boring as I remember. Nothing happens! Guy follows a lady, this lady may or may not be nuts and is related to a lady who committed suicide. This lady kills herself, Jimmy Stewart is tried in court by the most asshole judge ever, then is crazy for a scene, then finds a lady who looks like the lady, turns out that is the lady, then boom, she is spooked off the tower. Okay, when I say it all like that, stuff does happen. And when written, those twists seem interesting. But putting them in a two hour movie, there is a whole lot of padding....including a scene where his platonic best friend paints herself into the painting of the famous lady. Man, that was awkward. Also, that end scene is so abrupt and out of nowhere. I know we're watching this with 2016 eyes, maybe it wasn't as jarring to a 1950s audience. But that scene is shot as if the nun was spying from the corner where the husband hid. She approaches in the shadows, gives one creepy line, then Kim Novak falls off for real. I get why the nun was shot like that, it's supposed to make us think its sinister and supposed to scare Kim Novak, but I'm just not buying it. It's too much of a stretch. And then BOOM, credits.
I don't know. Maybe I wouldn't be so hard on this movie if it wasn't ranked so high. This bumped Citizen Kane form the 2012 Sight and Sound poll and in previous years was ranked at #2. The idea that this is better than Citizen Kane is just impossible. It's not even in my Top 5 Hitchcock! Psycho, North by Northwest, Rear Window, Shadow of a Doubt and Suspicion all rank higher. I even want to say Dial M For Murder and The Man Who Knew Too Much are better, but I need to rewatch those again too. Anyway, Vertigo is a beautiful movie. Watch the Blu-ray.