Vertigo, based on the novel D'Entre Les Morts by Pierre Boileau - 9 out of 10

Vertigo, based on the novel D'Entre Les Morts by Pierre Boileau
9 out of 10


Alfred Hitchcock, the director of this film, has been feted as the ultimate film maker, the epitome of the man on whom everything depends in a movie and nothing and nobody else matters except this Supreme Deus.

William Goldman, winner of two Academy Awards and a consummate insider, writes in his quintessential Adventures in the Screen Trade about the error committed in the Hitchcock case and in general when critics spoke of 'film d'auteur'.
Many other people are important in the making of a film and the director is just one of them,alongside the actors, screenwriter, producer and in many instances, other professionals, the example of the special effects is given for Jaws and music for Chariots of Fire.

Alfred Hitchcock himself has suffered form this unanimous acclaim, in the opinion of the brilliant William Goldman, for the quality of his films would decrease after everyone fell over heels for his productions.
However, the famous film director seems to have had a tense relationship with many, if not all his stars, and a disregard for actors in general.

Vertigo is the only film that I know so far that has a perfect Metascore of 100 out of 100, with top, maximum notes from The Guardian, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, all thinking the feature perfect.
And it is an impressive, meditative, spectacular, flawlessly acted motion picture.

James Stewart is outstanding as John Scottie Ferguson, and so are Kim Novak as Madeleine and Judy and Barbara Bel Geddes as Midge.
John Ferguson used to be a capable detective, up to the point where, during an investigation, he discovers he suffers from Vertigo...he has a fear of heights and a tragedy happens because of this, to some degree anyway.

He has been injured, though to not the extent that the photographer in the Rear Window was, and he is now recuperating with the help of his long time friend, Midge.
This is when a former colleague, Gavin Elster, calls upon him, because he has problems with his wife and wants Scottie to take the case.

The story is an intriguing one, with Madeleine Elster behaving strangely,as if she is possessed by the spirit of a dead woman, and her husband is very worried and before consulting a psychiatrist, he thinks John Ferguson would gather all the information that could help solve this mystery and cure the poor woman.
After the initial rejection of the request, the hero becomes perhaps fascinated with this puzzling situation and starts following the stupendous woman, up to the moment when she jumps in the San Francisco Bay.

The former police detective, now working as a private eye, jumps in the water to rescue - he and the public thinks - the woman who had just attempted to commit suicide.
He takes her to his apartment, sets the clothes out to dry and when she wakes up, she has no idea about what had happened...at least that is the version we hear at that stage.

Very soon, the private detective becomes enamoured with Madeleine Elster,  or so he and we think.
Alas, as they visit a historic place, the splendid woman climbs up the stairs of the bell tower, where Scottie is unable to follow due to his condition, and then jumps down to her death.

An official inquiry and a jury establish that this was a suicide.
It is nevertheless far from over, for the motion picture still has one hour or so to go and the mystery is not yet solved.

Vertigo is indeed a classic.