263. Vertigo; movie review

VERTIGO
Cert PG
122 mins
BBFC advice: Contains mild threat and references to suicide

The Amtrak train from Vancouver to Seattle promised decent wifi but it wasn't good enough to watch a streaming link of new movies which have been sent to me.
Therefore, I turned to one I had already downloaded on iTunes and which is set for re-release this summer.
Sadly, Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo rather disappointed me.
It is some years since I watched it but I found its concentration on melodrama stifled its ability to thrill.
That, in my opinion, cannot be blamed on age because North By Northwest, Psycho and Rear Window have all passed the test of time.
I wondered whether it was down to the wide eyes of James Stewart, the ludicrous speed at which his character falls in love with Kim Novak's or the hurried finale.
Of course, it isn't a bad film - Hitchcock didn't make such a thing. It has his usual elegance, wonderful use of light and intriguing, original concept.
Stewart plays John Ferguson a detective who feels compelled to quit his job after his attack of agoraphobia cost a colleague his life.
An old pal (Tom Helmore) then givs him a strange private assignment - to follow his wife who, he believes, has been taken over by the spirit of her great grandmother.
So he follows her and...falls in love with her.
As you do. More incredibly, after scarcely two conversations, she is head over heels for him too.
This is bad news for Ferguson's best pal (Barbara Bel Geddes) who is desperate for him to recognise her allure.
Anyway, there are myriad twists and turns as with all Hitchcock thrillers and a humdinger ending.
Well, at least it probably was seen as a humdinger ending at the time of its release but it didn't quite hit the mark with me 60 years later.
Perhaps I was in a daze after all of the use of spiral backgrounds and queasy in-and-out shots to reflect dizziness.
Anyway, who cares what I say. Vertigo is in many filmwatchers' top 100 of all time. It just isn't in mine.

Reasons to watch: It's renowned as a Hitchcock classic
Reasons to avoid: Rather over melodramatic

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 7/10

Director quote - Alfred Hitchcock: "I indulged in a form of necrophilia."

The big question - Why did 40s and 50s movie characters fall in love so easily.

Share this post