International Film Classic: “Vertigo”
International Film Classic: “Vertigo”
October 30, 2009
By Diego M. Chiri
Staff Writer
During the 1920s and 1930s, when the studio system controlled Hollywood, movies were seen as products made by the power of the producers in this "factory of dreams." A couple of decades later, under the Auteur Theory, the director and not the producer had control over the film, imposing a unique and recognizable visual style in their films. In this way, movies went from being products to art material. Directors like Orson Welles, Nicholas Ray, Howard Hawks and Alfred Hitchcock are considered auteurs for creating personal signatures that distinguish their artwork from that of other directors.
Considered by many critics to be Hitchcock's masterpiece, "Vertigo" (1958) contains all the elements that characterized Hitchcock as an auteur director. The movie reaches a level that few movies in the history of cinema have been able to achieve by elegantly and wisely covering many themes in a way that only a master like Hitchcock could. "Vertigo" is a story of pure eroticism, transformations, necrophilia, perfect crime, simulation, lies and instructions on how to confront and overcome fear. Moreover, Vertigo is passionate, complex, beautiful and a clear example of how a film director can demonstrate his signature and personal vision.
Based on the French novel D'entre les Morts ("From Among the Dead") written by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, "Vertigo" begins with the accident that causes John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) to have acrophobia. The fear of heights leads Scottie to quit his job as a police detective. When an old friend from college, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), asks him to follow his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak), Scottie returns to his role of private investigator. Apparently, Madeline has been possessed by the ghost of her great-grandmother Carlotta Valdes, who committed suicide at the age of 26, the same age Madeleine is. Scottie and Madeline fall in love with each other, but the madness of a terrible accident separates them. In an unforgettable last shot of an overwhelming force, Scottie overcomes his vertigo at a terrible price.
"Vertigo" is full of surprises: Nothing is as it seems. As an audience, we go from a ghost story, to a love affair, to the investigation of a perfect crime. It is exactly because of this constant change of direction that "Vertigo" stands out more than any other Hitchcock movie. Studying Hitchcock, you can learn that suspense is not created by denying information, but by providing it. The secret lies in who is receiving this information and when. Hitchcock gives information to the audience but denies it to the character, creating in this way a hierarchy of knowledge.
Hitchcock knew at exactly what moments in his films he should reveal the secrets that would change the direction of his movies. He made these decisions based on what interested him the most at the moment of narrating a story: the how. His movies were not made with the intention of showing a secret murderer at the end of the plot or a mysterious reason that explains why a crime happened. In fact, Hitchcock did not like to explain things too much. He just showed the actions and then the reactions. Hitchcock was more interested in showing what is going to happen next and how it is going to happen.
Other aspects that define Hitchcock as an auteur director that are present in "Vertigo" are the theme of the double, the use of shame and guilt and the fatale blonde woman. In addition, the movie includes Hitchcock's collaboration with the extraordinary musical themes of Bernard Herrmann, his favorite composer.
"Vertigo" can be seen several times but you always find something new. This is the beauty of the movie. It does not matter how well you know the plot or the storyline-"Vertigo" is still enjoyable until the very end. "Vertigo" is a classic, Hitchcock's masterpiece and the best example of how an auteur director can create passion, complexity and beauty under his own signature.
