San Francisco Heights

#9—Vertigo

The definition of a psychological thriller is a film that uses the psychosis of its characters to give mystery to the plot. Many directors today, such as Brian De Palma and David Fincher, have modeled their directing style of this genre from one of the greatest directors of the 20^th century, Alfred Hitchcock. Because of his great work, Hitchcock has four films that have been voted onto AFI’s Top 100. Tonight, the first film is #9 on the list, Vertigo.

Vertigo tells the story of John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) and his first ‘case’ after his retirement from the San Francisco Police Department. After and unfortunate accident while pursuing a perpetrator, Scottie is approached by an old college friend, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore) for a little private investigative work. The job is simple enough, follow Mr. Elster’s wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak) and see where she goes and whom she interacts. However, what seems to be a simple job quickly turns into something a little more tragic that from which Scottie may never recover.

The acting of Vertigo was good. I can tell you that this was not Jimmy Stewarts best roles, but he shows the emotional stress that Scottie goes through wonderfully. Novak is another actress that I have nothing to compare. Cannot really say anything else about her and her character because it will give most of the plot away. I can say, though, that she fits perfectly in this role.

This is one of many awesome films directed by Hitchcock. Hitchcock does innovative things with the camera in this film to show Scottie’s fear of heights. Plus because this is a psychological thriller, Hitchcock uses a lot of close ups on Stewart, Novak, and of course both of them together. Hitchcock is the father of modern psycho thrillers because he knows that he does not need the gore to creep people out. You will notice this in many of his films; his use of innuendos comes off more powerful than showing the audience flat out.

I loved this film, as I do most of Hitchcocks films, but I do not think this film should have been ranked this high. This amazing thriller messes a little with your mind, but not as much as another of Hitchcocks film on this list.

Verdict: Definitely Worth Your Time.