Rating of
4/4
Vertigo review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 11/19/11
A retired detective John "Scottie" Ferguson helps his friend Gavin Elster to follow his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak) because of being possessed. Scottie explains and asks assistance from Midge Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes) to find a reason for Elster's wifes behavior. Madeleine commits suicide from a church bell tower which has an effect on Scottie who was admitted in a sanitarium. He meets a lady named Judy Barton from Kansas who reminds him of Madeleine. The two date and find out a revelation in the conclusion because of a necklace. a few lines from the film: John - "Anyone could become obsessed with the past with a background like that!" Gavin - "There's no way for them to understand. You and I know who killed Madeleine."
It starts slow with the conversations going on for better character development. The story becomes interesting when Scottie tails Madeleine in various locations she goes to. The cinematography and locations were well planned out. The camera technical skills were utilized by Hitchcock during the nightmare dreams, details of the person in the painting and climbing of the church tower. The quote that almost sums up the whole movie - "I heard that one before too. I remind you of someone you used to be madly in love with, but then she ditched ya for another guy. And you've been carrying the torch ever since. Then you saw me and something clicked." The plot and themes of obsession, detail-oriented (shows how good a detective Ferguson was), relationships and karma. Vertigo had a great score, screenplay, acting with virtuoso direction.
