Vertigo



As I have mentioned before, it's difficult for me to watch classic films without feeling as if I have to like them. There was no problems in that area with Vertigo.

I'll be honest, being relatively young I have only actually seen three Hitchcock films including this one. The other two are Strangers on a Train and Psycho. Vertigo takes certain elements from both, arriving between the two as it did. For example the famous dream sequence in Vertigo is quite reminiscent of the carousel scene from Strangers on a Train in that they are both dizzying in the extreme. Combining clever camera work with startling imagery, Hitchcock manages to create an environment on the screen that would rival anything of today in terms of film making.

The strength of Vertigo is that it moves so slowly and the suspense grows, at points, to an almost unbearable level. Like when James Stewart begins to tail Kim Novak, the scene is so stretched out and plods along at such an unbearable pace that you really are clueless as to what is going to happen next.

This is the first time I have been exposed to the sheer beauty of one Kim Novak also and my word she is stunning. I actually spend a good ten minutes during the film trying to think of a movie star today who rivals her for looks or even comes close to that classic mould of shapely sirens rife in Hollywood during the 50s and 60's. She actually also forms part of the only distraction in the film with her pairing with James Stewart adding a somewhat unsettling air to proceedings, with Stewart looking like he could easily pass for Novak's Grandfather. But I suppose that still goes on in movies today, although I can't think of any cases where the sexes are reversed. Just imagine Meryl Streep was cast playing the girlfriend of Jake Gyllenhaal  or Ashton Kutcher playing the toyboy of Demi Moore, give me a break.

That being said it takes nothing away from a certain masterpiece of suspense cinema, and the fact that Alfred Hitchcock can make a film to rival any thrillers being churned out today and have it rated as PG by modern day standards is nothing short of remarkable.

Now i'm off to see how many other ridiculous and definitely hypothetical Hollywood couples I can think of. Hahaha, Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore. Ridiculous.

5 stars