Vertigo(John)

I have never seen an Alfred Hitchcock film all the way though before this point. However, I do know that he is considered an excellent and prolific director/story-teller. I also know that Vertigo is one of his greatest works. So, I was definitely excited to see this film.

The acting was pretty good. Jimmy Stewart stole the show. His metamorphosis of an ordinary man with a fear into border-line insanity was excellent. Some of his parts were overly dramatized, but I forgave that because of the time period and they didn't completely annoy me. Kim Novak also did a good job of separating the two roles she was required to play. I thought she had a very charismatic presence on the screen. And the chemistry between her and Stewart was also evident. Again, she has some overly dramatic scenes but none too bothersome.

The story was crazy. The first half of the movie, I felt like I was watching something out of the Twilight Zone. And then the second half turns into this suspense film about a guy who was tricked into believing something that was not true. And for good measure, we have a romantic love affair. It was a fairly confusing story to follow. That being said, I think the story was good and definitely kept me on my toes. The pacing was good and I never felt bored. I can see where critics who watched this film when it was first released would have major problems with it. At the time, there was no other film like this.

The camera work was also crazy. Hitchcock implemented this zoom technique that help illustrate the feeling of vertigo. And he pulled it off perfectly. This technique is used all the time in today's movies/shows, but it was brand new back then. The camera angles were also appealing to me. The scene when Jimmy Stewart wakes up after having a nightmare is a good representation of the excellent cinematography.

I think this movie was pretty good. There were some confusing plot points and some very dramatic dialogue. However, the acting was great, the set and sound design was amazing and I enjoyed the Hitchcockian camera work. This may not be the first Hitchcock film you should see, but it should definitely be on the list.

I'll give it a 7.5 out of 10.

- John Murphy