notes on vertigo

Vertigo is such a strange film. I think its easy to forget how strange it is because it shows up on so many best of lists.

Vertigo must be Hitchcock’s most dreamlike film, particularly when Jimmy Stewart’s Scottie, is tracking Kim Novak’s Madeline through the city.

And once Scottie runs into Judy, the movie completely jettisons the mystery at the center of the narrative and focuses solely on Scottie’s obsession with Madeline, made even creepier by the age difference between Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak.

The film is made even creepier by watching Jimmy Stewart behave so obsessively.