About a year ago, Sight and Sound's 10-yearly poll ranked "Vertigo" the best movie of all time, replacing "Citizen Kane" from its 50 year reign. Make no mistake, this is a great film, perhaps even a masterpiece, but I'm not so sure this is even Hitchcock's best work. What makes it special is the technical artistry that enhances the imagination-stretching plot.
The film starts with a long look of a woman's eyes in extreme close-up. Layered on top are artistic opening credits by Saul Bass. Right off the bat, we can expect something a bit out of the ordinary. In the beginning sequence, Detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart in his final role for Hitch) and another policemen are chasing a bad guy across rooftops in picturesque San Francisco. Scottie's jump leaves him a bit short and his slips, holding on to an about-to-snap gutter. The other cop doubles back, extends a hand to help but falls himself to his death. Scottie, now holding on for dear life has a dizzying battle of vertigo. Now with no one else in sight and no way for Scottie to leverage a pull up even without the vertigo issue, the next scene shows him in his boss's office. Say what?
Scottie decides that this sudden onset of acrophobia leaves him unfit for real police work, so he retires. He spends much of his off hours in the company of Midge (nicely played by Barbara Bel Geddes) who was once a college sweetheart but now are just friends. Midge would like more, but takes what she can get which is just the company of Scottie.
When Scottie gets a call from an old war buddy, Gavin (Tom Helmore) to help him with his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak) and her odd behavior, he is asked to follow her. Scottie reluctantly agrees. In a long, beautifully shot scene we see nothing but Scottie and his white Desoto following Madeleine in her gorgeous emerald green Jaguar. And for the record, Madeleine with her sleek figure, platinum blond hair and long white jacket look magnificent in a green Jag.
This scene goes on for many minutes with no dialog. Again, what makes it work is the artwork of the photography and especially the haunting musical score by frequent Hitchcock collaborator, Bernard Herrmann. In fact, this score is one of the most effective I can remember. As Scottie continues to figure out why Madeleine visits the places she does, you can see him falling in love with her. With what he believes to be a suicide attempt Madeleine jumps into the Bay under the Golden Gate Bridge. Scottie rescues her and takes her back to his apartment. With all her clothes hanging in his kitchen and Madeleine tucked warmly into his bed, Hitchcock offers some of his usual titillation. That is, suggestion, not exposure. Ah those damn censors.
In a critical scene, Scottie takes Madeleine to a small town chapel. When she bolts for the stairwell, Scottie's acrophobia gets the best of him and he can't follow. Next thing you know, we see what appears to be Madeleine falling from the bell tower. Scottie goes into depression, again feeling guilty over an innocent person's death that he couldn't prevent.
As time passes, Scottie spots a girl who looks remarkably like Madeleine but with dark hair. He follows her up to her hotel room where she allows him to enter. One thing leads to another and he starts dating her. But then he wants her to change. He wants her to dress like Madeleine, even dye her hair and wear it like Madeleine. This whole scenario is creepy, especially by modern convention. Eventually, Judy has become Madeleine. But then, Scottie spots a necklace on Judy, one that she shouldn't have.
The story has a strong conclusion, but Hitchcock had to make another for European audiences. It is available as one of the extras on the Blu ray. "Vertigo" is a strong film, in spite of some plot points that border on the ridiculous. It has a great look thanks to the restoration. It has an enormous use of color with yellow, red and the always present green on display. San Francisco is shown at its best thanks to the vision of Hitchcock and the expertise of cinematographer Robert Burks. You can decide if this is Hitchcock's best film but either way it is a classic.
This Blu ray disc is currently available as part of the Hitchcock: Masterpiece Collection and expected to be available as a stand alone disc in the future. It has a 1080p resolution with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio as was the original film. As noted earlier the real highlight of the transfer is the excellent color and fine detail. Based on one of the documentaries, the master print was in bad condition which always causes some problems. The only thing that was noticeable to me was some of the black instability. The audio features a very good DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track in addition to DTS mono (2-channel). I have no complaints. The dialog is centered and clear. Use of the surrounds is most evident with the enveloping Herrmann score. Subtitles available are French, Spanish and English SDH. There are some interesting extras included on the disc. There is only one commentary track with William Friedkin. Other docs include one about the restoration process, another spotlighting various technical collaborators, a Hitchcock interview by François Truffaut and more.
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