I finally watched some Hitchcock
This weekend I introduced myself to Alfred Hitchcock, by watching probably his most famous work: Vertigo, from 1958.
And I'll start off by saying that it's been three days, and I still haven't quite made up my mind about this movie.
This movie relies on a twist to make the plot extra interesting, and I won't spoil it specifically. But I will spoil most of the movie, so proceed with caution.
The movie follows John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart), a retired police detective with acrophobia, a.k.a: fear of heights. His old acquaintance Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) asks John for a favour: to follow his wife Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak), who he believes was in danger, since she has been showcasing a weird behaviour. Reluctantly, John agrees, and goes observe the couple to see who Madeleine is.
Madeleine goes back to Scottie's house after, with a thank you letter, but since he's following her, he personally receives the letter. Then they both decide to "wander around" and end up visiting a sequoia park. There, Madeleine starts feeling weird and tells Scottie about dreams she keeps having, that reinforced her madness.
And right after that, they kiss.
On an attempt to make Madeleine feel better, Scottie takes her to the birthplace of Carlotta, which she keeps seeing in her dreams. There they confess their love for each other, but Madeleine feels an uncontrollable impulse to run up the stairs of the church's bell tower.
Scottie tries running after her, but his fear of heights causes vertigo, he ends up paralysed. And Madeleine plunges to her death.
Unable to save her, John goes into deep shock. He's trialed and found innocent in Madeleine's death, but he only comes out of his shock after seeing a woman who looks a lot like Madeleine. He follows her, gets her name, Judy Barton, and makes her agree to go out for dinner with him.
That's when things start to get disturbing.
Scottie engages in some psychotic behaviour: he needs to make Judy look exactly like Madeleine. He wants to give her the same clothes the deceased wore, and he even forces Judy to dye her hair the exact same colour as Madeleine's.
The rest you'll have to watch for yourself. But I will say that the ending is weird. And I'm still not sure if it's a good or bad kind of weird.
This movie relies on a twist to make the plot extra interesting, and I won't spoil it specifically. But I will spoil most of the movie, so proceed with caution.
The movie follows John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart), a retired police detective with acrophobia, a.k.a: fear of heights. His old acquaintance Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) asks John for a favour: to follow his wife Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak), who he believes was in danger, since she has been showcasing a weird behaviour. Reluctantly, John agrees, and goes observe the couple to see who Madeleine is.
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| Madeleine and Gavin having a casual dinner |
He proceeds to keep tabs on her every move: she buys flowers in a florist, then visits a grave (Carlotta Valdes 1831-1857) in Mission San Francisco de Asis, goes to an art museum where she stares at a painting called Portrait of Carlotta, and finally goes to a hotel.
With the help of his friend Midge (Barbara Bel Gedes), John visits a book shop owner that's also a local historian, and figures out who Carlotta Valdes was: a mistress of a wealthy man. She had his child, and having no child in his own marriage, the man kept the bastard and rejected Carlotta, who then committed suicide.
Scottie takes all this new information to Gavin, who reveals that Carlotta was Madeleine's great-grandmother, even though the woman is not aware of it. He believes his wife was possessed by Carlotta, since she even has some of the dead woman's jewellery inherited from her mother. With that Gavin voices his greatest fear: that his wife will commit suicide as her ancestor did.
John keeps stalking Madeleine. And at one point she drives to Fort Point, and when she throws herself into the San Francisco bay, he jumps right after and rescues her.
Scottie takes her to his house, dries her clothes and gives her a warm drink. They talk for a while, and their future romance is slightly hinted.
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| Madeleine killing flowers in Fort Point |
Scottie takes her to his house, dries her clothes and gives her a warm drink. They talk for a while, and their future romance is slightly hinted.
Madeleine goes back to Scottie's house after, with a thank you letter, but since he's following her, he personally receives the letter. Then they both decide to "wander around" and end up visiting a sequoia park. There, Madeleine starts feeling weird and tells Scottie about dreams she keeps having, that reinforced her madness.
And right after that, they kiss.
On an attempt to make Madeleine feel better, Scottie takes her to the birthplace of Carlotta, which she keeps seeing in her dreams. There they confess their love for each other, but Madeleine feels an uncontrollable impulse to run up the stairs of the church's bell tower.
Scottie tries running after her, but his fear of heights causes vertigo, he ends up paralysed. And Madeleine plunges to her death.
Unable to save her, John goes into deep shock. He's trialed and found innocent in Madeleine's death, but he only comes out of his shock after seeing a woman who looks a lot like Madeleine. He follows her, gets her name, Judy Barton, and makes her agree to go out for dinner with him.
That's when things start to get disturbing.
Scottie engages in some psychotic behaviour: he needs to make Judy look exactly like Madeleine. He wants to give her the same clothes the deceased wore, and he even forces Judy to dye her hair the exact same colour as Madeleine's.
The rest you'll have to watch for yourself. But I will say that the ending is weird. And I'm still not sure if it's a good or bad kind of weird.
San Francisco in the 1950's looks amazing. I already loved the city, and after seeing this movie I fell in love with it all over again. Amazing job, Mr. Hitchcock. His use of colour was also outstanding. There are two basic colour schemes through out the movie: red and green; and blue and yellow. Red and green are the colours the two main characters exchange. In the beginning everything about Madeleine is green, while everything about Scottie is red. After Madeleine's suicide attempt, they switch. Scottie has a green sweater, while Madeleine wears a red robe. Blue and yellow are the colours used for Marge and the court scene.
I had expectations for this. The world hyped this movie, so having issues with it makes me feel a little bit guilty, to be completely honest.
The first issue was the chemistry between James Stewart and Kim Novak's characters. I guess it must have been some amazing chemistry back in the 50's, but I didn't really see it. The entire thing felt rushed, and slightly creepy when you realise Scottie probably developed feelings for Madeleine while stalking the woman.
My second issue was with his creepy behaviour towards Judy. He was aggressive, and even though she clearly didn't want to dress or look like his dead lover, he grabbed her arms constantly, and forced her to do all his wishes. Talk about a very healthy relationship.
It's undeniable that this movie is iconic. It establishes Hitchcock's style as a director, and introduces us to some famous camera techniques, like the POV shots, and the Dolly Zoom. It's got the "Sixth Sense" style twist in the end (it's obviously the other way around, but I watched Bruce Willis' classic first), and the colour grading is brilliant.
And I'd say it's completely worth the watch, if you overlook the misogyny of the time period.
The first issue was the chemistry between James Stewart and Kim Novak's characters. I guess it must have been some amazing chemistry back in the 50's, but I didn't really see it. The entire thing felt rushed, and slightly creepy when you realise Scottie probably developed feelings for Madeleine while stalking the woman.
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| my exact reaction when they shared their first kiss |
My second issue was with his creepy behaviour towards Judy. He was aggressive, and even though she clearly didn't want to dress or look like his dead lover, he grabbed her arms constantly, and forced her to do all his wishes. Talk about a very healthy relationship.
It's undeniable that this movie is iconic. It establishes Hitchcock's style as a director, and introduces us to some famous camera techniques, like the POV shots, and the Dolly Zoom. It's got the "Sixth Sense" style twist in the end (it's obviously the other way around, but I watched Bruce Willis' classic first), and the colour grading is brilliant.
And I'd say it's completely worth the watch, if you overlook the misogyny of the time period.
I watched this movie in a "movie club" in high school, but didn't really remember much about it until I read this. But I remember also kinda being creeped out by the relationship. Very nicely written as always and I like that you've been adding the gifs to these posts.
ReplyDeleteAlso I just have to say that I love the illustration of the poster for the movie. It has captured the spinning movement feeling really well. :D