Vertigo

Yes the film that usurped Citizen Kane as the quote unquote best film ever. How was it?

I very much enjoyed it, I feel it was indeed the best of the Hitchcock films I've reviewed this week, and it kept me interested until the very end. Jimmy Stewart returns again as a detective who suffers from acrophobia and after watching his partner die decides to return, but his friend asks for his help in watching his wife. The reason? Well, I'd rather not say. Needless to say it builds intrigue and mystery very quickly, and you're constantly throwing ideas out to what the cause of this strangeness really is. Well I was half right. Honestly a movie hasn't screwed with my brain this much since Perfect Blue, and that movie is a trip and a half, I still need to watch that movie like 4 more times. But anyway, so the mystery part of it was great. What surprised me is this movie didn't get a lot of praise when it premiered, critics felt it was lackluster and audiences made the film about triple it's budget, so it wasn't a bomb but it was not so well loved. Whereas now, people view it as the best of all Hitchcock's works, but I'm still on the fence about that. I thought Jimmy Stewart was great in this movie, still bringing his usual stamp of invested and fun acting while bringing even more to the table. But man did Kim Novak steal this show and run laughing with it to the bank. Holy hell's bells, she is fantastic! This is an excellent performance, and she is able to bring such emotion and unearthliness to this part. Easily the best part of the entire movie for me. This is certainly one of Hitchcock's more artsy films, evident immediately from the opening credits and seen throughout the course of the film through lighting, shot placement, and of course effects. The effects are done incredibly well and really does make you feel uneasy and a bit off center, I myself suffer from acrophobia and get vertigo more than 10 feet off the ground, so it was effective for me. But I think it's the story, this ever expanding mystery, an inner struggle within our main character that really is why it's so well received and loved today. I'm very happy I finally had a chance to see more films and wasn't disappointed with any of them, though Psycho still holds a strong place in my heart I can say Vertigo is in fact the best Hitchcock movie I've seen to date. He really was a one of a kind director that tapped into his own fears and demons and brought it into the lens of a camera, able to make entertaining and wonderful cinema that will be watched for decades and decades to come. Every movie with a twist is owed a great deal to Psycho, every suspense scene is compared to his films, most everyone will agree he is a fantastic director, and I'm one of those people. Does it surpass Citizen Kane in terms of filmmaking and story? Eh, it's debatable but Citizen Kane just speaks to me more. Regardless, this film gets an easy 4 stars, 8 if not even 9/10, and two thumbs way up from me.

Well next week we look into some more classics that I have yet to see. Hey I got a lot of stuff to watch, cut me a break.