DeadChannel

New film #1


Vertigo is a 1958 American suspense/thriller film by Alfred Hitchcock starring Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novac.

It's the first new movie for me this year, and a great way to start it off.

Jimmy Stewart plays a detective who develops agoraphobia (fear of heights), and decides to retire. A friend then convinces him to follow his wife, who he has good reason to be concerned about. Soon, though, he becomes obsessed with her...

All of the actors do an very good job on this film. Jimmy Stewart is a pretty consistent actor, so there's not a lot I can say. Kim Novac didn't have too many lines (Barbara Bel Geddes actually probably has more, owing to the quick banter between her and Stewart), but she was the right person for the part. The supporting cast does a good job as well, particularly the previously mentioned Barbara Bel Geddes, who I wish had more screentime (although, at 128 minutes, this is already very long for a Hitchcock movie).

As a whole, its suspenseful, smart and tense. Hitchcock deals with the same themes that he is often associated with, particularly voyeurism (the first few scenes when the protagonist investigates the woman come to mind).

I adore the beautiful 65mm cinematography all over this movie. The colours are vibrant and everything is very sharp. Film grain isn't terribly noticeable either. As a whole, I'd like to watch this on blu ray at some point (I've got the dvd). That being said, there was at least one scene that stood out as having a star trekish softness to it, but that might have just been the print that was scanned.
Interestingly, something called the dolly zoom was invented for this movie. It is achieved by physically moving the camera away from the subject while zooming in. It is often called the "Vertigo" shot, but you might have also seen it in films like Jaws and Goodfellas.

The music is brilliant too. It's not quite as frenetic as Psycho's iconic theme, but it has a great amount of range. As far as I can tell, the dialogue is mostly recorded on location. There also aren't any noticeable mistakes with the foley work on the film.

All in all, I loved this movie. I still like psycho a bit better, but I think this is an 8.5