Key
themes to consider:
-
Themes of death and desire - the confrontation with death
and with the abyss. Some critics argue that plot, characterisation and so
on are all subordinated to thematic development in Vertigo. Think, for example, about the theme of reality/illusion,
and the past: Madeleine leading Scottie to the past, the grave, the portrait
and the long-dead woman; the fascination of death (the illusory ideal itself
is a kind of death - something outside the flux of time); 'vertigo' might
be considered as kind of death wish, or as something that expands to suggest
metaphysical terror - a longing for and fear of death. The temptation
to resurrect the 'dead' woman could be seen as willing the return of the illusion
of a 'timeless' love. The real world is made treacherous - human relationships
and identity are unstable and shifting; illusion and reality are ambiguous
and interchangeable. Scottie's obsession becomes a sickness, but is
also analogous to a general human tendency to long for an ideal image - to
want to substitute it for reality.
-
Images of women
(variations on domestic woman/femme fatale theme).
What is the function of Midge? (in relation to modern culture she is
practical, realistic, emancipated, sane, healthy, 'motherly', though limited
in being devoid of mystery, and in reducing everything to a matter-of-fact
level - not satisfactory for Scottie, who has looked into the void (like the
Flitcraft episode in Hammett's Maltese Falcon,
this is an existential experience of nothingness that undermines the 'normal'
attachment to the ordinary in life). Madeleine, on the other hand, is
seen by us only as Scottie sees her - remote, mysterious, vulnerable (opposed
to the demystified sex of Midge's bra as like a 'cantilever bridge'); Madeleine
is a romantic dream incompatible with mundane reality. In the scene
in which Midge defaces the portrait, one might think of her as trying to break
the hold of the dream and to make Scottie see her, which is what Judy also
does at the end, trying to bring him back (she herself, like Midge, is a character
remote from the erotic fantasy of Madeleine, and Scottie has never been really
able to 'see' her as Judy).
-
Male identity
(one might compare to other representations, especially in film
noir, of the sexual triangle - in which the male crisis of identity is often
figured through the juxtaposition of younger male with an older man in a position
of power). The interview with
Elster is an important scene to consider here: it invokes a nostalgia
for the past, where a man had 'freedom' and 'power' (note Elster's boredom
with modern shipbuilding, etc.). This is a scene that sets up what ultimately
turns out to be - as perceived by Scottie - a male confrontation over who
exercises power. Think also about the representation of Scottie himself
as man who has lost male potency/power - evident, e.g., in the scenes with
Midge.
-
Structure (in
relation to conventional crime story construction).
Think particularly here about the often-posed question of why Hitchcock decides
to break the first law of mystery writing and give away the 'surprise' two-thirds
of the way through. What difference does the revelation make?
(it is a daring move, which risks making the audience feel that they have
been cheated). But up until then, we've identified ourselves with Scottie's
weaknesses and desires; confronted with a double shock (not only is Madeleine
dead, but she never existed) we now have to shift our position and separate
ourselves from Scottie's perspective, no longer just sharing Scottie's feelings
but now wondering how he will react - torn ourselves between wanting a return
of the dream and wanting to see how he will cope with a discovery of the fraud
('Knowing the truth, we...have far more opportunity...to consider the implications
of what we see').
-
Attempt a detailed analysis of the sequence that ends
the film, starting with the putting on of the necklace. This is the point at which Hitchcock draws together
all the threads of the crime narrative/love story: think about how
he does this, and about what is implied; analyse cuts, POV, looks, dialogue.
Judy/Madeleine's identity is merging and dissolving. She puts on the
necklace (why does she? Is it because she is at this point 'becoming' Madeleine?
Or might there be another motive?). The whole scene returns us to
the question of her earlier identification with the role of Madeleine (e.g.,
the scream, which could be the 'planned' signal of 'Madeleine's' death,
or her last-minute attempt to prevent it). How does Hitchcock present
the perception of the necklace? There is an imaginative/subjective
shot from Scottie's viewpoint, showing him able now to 'identify' the different
identities; his feeling for the dream is now locked together with his bitter
reaction against Judy. What is most destructive to Scottie?
(is it, for example, his knowledge that it's Elster who has created her,
rather than him? that he himself is the victim in senses he couldn't previously
have understood?). Think about the irony of the fact that at end Scottie
is 'cured' - in the sense that he can look down from the tower without vertigo
- but is empty and desolate, with both the dream and the reality simultaneously
destroyed, in an act that is 'an accident', but also in some senses murder
(he wants to kill her) and suicide (her identity is under such pressure
that she is disintegrating).
Some useful online links (also included on main
359 page):
John Locke, 'Last Laugh: Was Hitchcock's Masterpiece a Private Joke?' at
http://www.brightlightsfilm.com/18/18_vertigo.html
Tim Birks, Vertigo - http://www.filmsite.org/vert.html