Vertigo (Universal Legacy Series)

It is unusual to see a director produce his best work after the age of 50, but that is exactly what Alfred Hitchcock did. Starting in 1948 with "Rope" and ending with "The Birds" in 1963, this was the era of his most inspired films. "Vertigo", in my opinion, is the best film of his entire body of work.

It is funny to note that when this film was first released in 1957 that it was not that popular in theaters and was pretty much universally panned by critics. In 1992, when the British Film Institute performed a survey of the world film critics to compile an all-time ten-best list that comes out every decade, Vertigo came in at fourth place. It didn't even make that list in 1962 or 1972. Part of the reason for the delayed popularity of the film could be that it requires repeated viewings to really gain an appreciation of it. Such repeated viewings were not possible for most viewers until the advent of home video systems and cable around 1980.

As for the film itself, it is a brilliantly twisted movie infused with touches of genius and madness that focuses on the interconnected nature of love and obsession. Interwoven with this main theme is a crime mystery that is revealed to and solved for the audience but not the protagonist, James Stewart's character, for the last 45 minutes of the film.

Alongside these themes is the issue of lost opportunities - how we grieve over them, and whether or not what we perceive as lost opportunities were ever "real" opportunities in the first place. This issue is raised not only for Scotty (James Stewart) - if only he could have gotten to Madeleine (Kim Novak) in time, if only he could have rescued the policeman from falling to his death at the beginning of the film, if only he could have seen through the scheme that manipulated him so perfectly and ultimately drove him temporarily mad - but for just about everybody else in the cast too. This includes Scotty's college girlfriend (Barbara Bel Geddes) who has remained his friend through the years and obviously still harbors thoughts of what might have been if only she had accepted Scotty's marriage proposal years before.

Besides the excellent acting and superb plot, the score is outstanding as is the cinematography, especially the visual darkness of the mission San Juan Bautista versus the angelic beauty of Madeleine which belies what is really going on. I highly recommend this film to anyone who has the time to watch it more than once. Just one viewing won't do it justice.

As an aside, this film is so contagious that I am sure that it has influenced other filmmakers over the years to the point of plagiarism, the most obvious example being Tim Burton's 1989 film, "Batman". The Joker dragging Vicki Vale to the top of Gotham cathedral's stairway and the confrontation and revelations of the past once at the top of the tower sure look like the closing 15 minutes of this movie. The following are the extra features:

Disc 1: Main Feature
1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
English DD5.1 Surround and DD2.0 Mono
English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles
Feature Commentary with Associate Producer Herbert Coleman, Restoration Team Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz and Other Vertigo Participants
Feature Commentary with Director William Friedkin
Foreign Ending
The Vertigo Archives
Production Notes
Original Theatrical Trailer
Restoration Theatrical Trailer

Disc 2: Extra Features
Obsessed with Vertigo: New Life for Hitchcock's Masterpiece
Partners in Crime: Hitchcock's Collaborators
Hitchcock / Truffaut Interview Excerpts
Alfred Hitchcock Presents "The Case of Mr. Pelham"

This film wonderfully realized and brought to the screen by the master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock, is truly one of Hitchcock's very best, a masterpiece of the cinema. Jimmy Stewart gives perhaps his finest performance in this Hitchcock classic, as Stewart is able to express many emotions with just the look in his eyes, fear, longing, love, desperation, anger, and finally total despair. Stewart plays a detective forced to retire fom the police force because of his fear of heights (vertigo). He later is hired by an old college chum who fears his wife may be possessed by a spirit of a long dead ancestor,and in danger perhaps even from herself. Stewart is asked to follow her to insure that no harm will befall her. There are many plot twists and turns and for those who may not have seen this classic, I don't want to give away any more of the plot. This film was beautfully restored, but unfortunately released in letterbox form a few years ago. Now thankfully this edition is in widescreen where it can truly be appreciated. The cover art of this DVD edition gives us a glimpse into the magic of Stewart's performance. Not a great success originally at the box office, this film is now universally recognized as one of the finest films ever made. Vertigo

This movie started out a bit boring, but once Stewart's character meets Novak's character, it takes off from there. The plot centers around a man who wants Stewart to follow Novak, saying she's his wife and that she's possessed by the spirit of a woman who committed suicide 100 years before. Needless to say, Stewart falls in love with Novak, and she with him. She runs to her death, and he ends up a different man. But a year later, he spots a mysterious woman who looks a great deal like his lost love, and he makes her over to have the same appearance. Then he catches a mistake on her part, and sets out to get the truth from her. I won't give it all away, but the ending has a real twist and a morbid ending. The actors are all excellent, and there are things the viewer doesn't see coming. This is a movie that truly deserves 5 stars.

If you go to amazon.co.uk and look up this title you will see that it is listed as PAL (the European standard) NOT NTSC (compatible with the US, Canada etc.).

Not only is this version Region-2 restricted - it will NOT play on a standard US DVD player unless your player can also properly decode and convert PAL video to NTSC.

I do not see HOW these 'sellers' can get away with saying that Region-2 is the ONLY restriction.

The ONLY way to get 'Vertigo' in NTSC Region-1 in Anamorphic Widescreen and properly 16:9 Enhanced (at this time) is to purchase the whole 'Alfred Hitchcock - The Masterpiece Collection' at $95.00.

I already have most of these films so, sadly, I'm going to wait for the Blu-ray release (which they must surely be working on at this time).

Enough things have been said about this great movie, I cannot add anything further, just let me tell you: the scene where Judy comes out from the room dressed as Madeleine, the dreamlike view, the Music, Scotty's reaction, just like he is watching his dead love rise to life before his eyes: is powerful stuff. Just for that short scene this film is worthy of artistic greatness, a masterpiece, something that is rare in this days.
Absolute recommendation for any film buff, some few naysayers claim the movie is slow and the vertigo effect is dated ...yeah sure it is, but does it really matter?