Vertigo is a suspense thriller that
represents the best example of narrative and technical filmmaking. The film is
based on the novel “D’ entre Les Morts†by Thomas Narcejac and Pierre Boileau
and directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The film explores various themes that marked
the art of the director and established the film as a total mystery with many
unsolved issues and suspense. The title, Vertigo, is defined as an imbalance in
the bodily equilibrium that results in the disorientation of the mind and
brings about confusion. As such, the film explores the effects of vertigo on
humans expressed both physically and mentally and in a supernatural form. In
the film, some themes are easy to understand while others are hidden in the
throughout the script, in the production, and in acting. The film follows the
story of Scottie, who has vertigo expressed through physical disorientation and
mentally by falling in love with an imaginary woman. The director brings out
the story of Scottie through the interchange of scenes, photography, and
editing to depict the lead actor as deceived. The significance of these
stylistic devices helps to demonstrate Scottie’s deception, how deception led
to his vertigo, how it affected him and finally how he overcame his condition
by leaving Madeleine and Judy.
The film opens with a close shot of a
human eye featuring a spinning shape accompanied by soothing music. The rich
images provide a clue that the film is full of visual images that will capture
the viewers and take them to another world (Youtube). To establish a state of
illusion, the film features spinning images, bell tower staircase, spiral and
circular features, nightmares and many concrete images representing delusion (Sclipfinger, 2). In addition, past events and
haunting locations keep recurring, to represent both physical and mental
aspects of vertigo. The recurrence of past locations and events also plays a
critical role in bringing the major the theme of the film, recurrence, which
the director uses to bring out Scottie’s story.
The mise-en-scenes in the film allow
the viewers to experience Scottie’s deception and bring out major themes in the
film. The opening scene opens with Scottie hanging from the ledge, and
excellent cinematography allows the viewer to feel as disoriented as the actor.
The opening scene explains the plot of the film since hanging on the ledge is
symbolic to indicate that Scottie is desperate to stay in the stable physical
and mental world but is being pulled into an illusion by Madeleine (Youtube). Flash forward to Midge’s studio
where Scottie is balancing a cane on his fingers. Midge and the balancing act
depicts the stability that Scottie requires but does not need due to his fascination
with mysterious Madeleine.
The central theme of the film, bringing
back the past is first forwarded to Scottie by Gavin Elster who convinces him
that it is possible and can even see Madeleine at Ernie’s. The meeting marked
the beginning of Scottie’s journey into illusion and fantasy world (Makkai, 73). He immerses himself so deep in
imaginary Madeline that even Midge cannot convince him to leave the imaginary
chase and be real. However, in the real sense, the imaginary Madeline is
actually Judy Barton who falls in love with Scottie. The first part ends with
the death of Madeline, which devastates Scottie but he is obsessed with the
idea that the past can still come back.
Scottie hopelessly cringes on the
notion that the past recurs, an idea that he had initially dismissed in the
first part of the movie. The second part of the film is also set in the same
location as the first part to enhance further the theme of recurrence. However,
in the second part, Scottie begins to turn Judy into Madeleine to fit in his
fantasies. The transformation is successful, and Judy appears as a ghost to
embrace Scottie signifying success in resurrecting Madeleine. The new
relationship takes a new turn when Scottie recognizes a necklace that was
previously owned by Carlotta on Judy (Makkai,
140). He investigates the matter and realizes that he was deceived. He
symbolically climbs the stairs to signify that he was finally overcoming
vertigo. In the end, Judy falls off the tower to indicate that Scottie will
overcome vertigo since Madeline and Judy are no longer present.
Vertigo is a complex suspense thriller
with many turns, complexities and twists, making it a classic mark of technical
and narrative film-making. The director uses interchange of scenes, photography,
and editing to bring out the basic and hidden messages in the film. As such,
the film captures the audience, providing a memorable experience with all the
marks of a classic film. The stylistic devices employed allow the audiences
follow Scottie’s vertigo up to the point of redemption. Unlike today’s’
suspense thrillers that solve the mystery at the end, Vertigo leaves the viewer
in suspense with regard to Scottie’s utopia. The film expertly uses these
stylistic devices to deliver a memorable production that is highly rated by
film critics.
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