First released in 1958, Vertigo returned to the big screen for a limited engagement to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Considered one of Alfred Hitchcock’s best works, it consistently ranks among the greatest movies of all time.
In the opening scene, Detective John Ferguson (James Stewart) discovers he has a crippling fear of heights and watches a policeman plummet to his death. Traumatized, he retires. He is soon contacted by an old friend, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), and hired to follow Elster’s wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak). Elster is convinced that Madeleine’s dead great-grandmother is trying to possess her, and he fears for her safety. Ferguson reluctantly takes the job, and over the course of a couple of days becomes obsessed with Madeleine.
What follows is a brilliantly scripted psychological thriller. Fear of heights might feature prominently, but we gradually learn that Ferguson’s issues go far deeper than that. Stellar performances from Stewart and Novak do more than justice to the script. Appearing relatively normal on the surface, their interactions create an understated but devastatingly effective sense of bizarre creepiness.
James Stewart and Kim Novak. IMDb.com
The pacing is slow, but never drags. Hitchcock very gradually draws the audience in. This is not a film that relies on cheap jump scares. The tension excruciatingly builds. At times, you know something bad is about to happen, but Hitchcock holds you in painful suspense until you are hoping for someone to just die already and release the tension.
Technically, Vertigo is a master class on the craft of film making. The camera angles, the shot framing, the lighting, every detail conveys the story as effectively as spoken words or even more so. The soundtrack brilliantly complements the visuals and strikes straight at the atavistic heart to evoke primal, visceral emotion.
I’m not at all accustomed to gushing, but Vertigo is one of those rare films that truly deserves to be called a masterpiece.
Overall rating: 10/10
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