A retired detective who suffers from acrophobia is asked to follow the wife of an old friend, in one of the greatest mystery films of all time. But beneath the conventions and appearance of the romance-mystery genre lies far more, as Hitchcock takes us on an exploration into fear, love and obsession. Using many experimental techniques, Hitchcock created a film so unique and strange that the audience of the time just didn’t know how to respond. Originally panned by the critics, Vertigo is today recognised as being not only Hitchcock’s very best, but also one of the greatest films of all time.

IN THIS POST

*Blessed Are The Merciful By A.A. Crayley

*The Vertigo of Dishonest Love by Fr. Peter Kwak

*A Tall Story About A Pushover by Rodney Mansour

*The Single Man, the Ideal Woman and the Vertigo of the Human Heart by Jeremy Ambrose

Warning: The reflections below contain spoilers. The aim is to share these insights with all who are inspired to watch this film and help to draw out even more from the experience. So watch the film first and read the reflections afterwards…

Blessed Are The Merciful By A.A. Crayley

So, the characters in Vertigo are insane and foolish, love is dishonest, everyone is deceitful and each decision in the film leads the characters down, down a slippery slope to mortal sin…. is this really all there is to Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Vertigo? Admittedly while watching the film, I often felt like I was about to have a bout of vertigo. My head was spinning with the weightiness of it all. How could everything be so dismal? Surely the film offered some hope, some elements of good human behaviour?

I needed a cup of tea and a nice lie down to help me refocus. As I recovered, it occurred to me that perhaps Vertigo was asking us to do more than feel contempt for the characters and the actions we see. To feel more than mere condemnation for people who try, fail, flounder about and live messy lives because they are human.

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The Vertigo of Dishonest Love by Fr. Peter Kwak

Scottie loved Midge dishonestly. When she said that he was the only man in the world for her, he blamed her for calling off their engagement during ‘good old college days’ and declared himself to be still available. Although he said this playfully, it was a lie – a cruel one, given Midge’s obvious attachment to him. He enjoyed her company but not in the way she enjoyed his. He pretended to be oblivious to how she felt toward him, as long as he got what he wanted from her, namely, loyalty. He loved her dishonestly. But he was not the only one. She did it to him too.

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A Tall Story About A Pushover by Rodney Mansour

Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo is a film with many layers housed within. On the apparent surface we have a mystery story that is deceptively straight forward. This is the genius behind the film and why so many, for so long, have hailed it a masterpiece. Hitchcock’s command of cinematic storytelling shows his control of all elements; the script, acting, lighting, music and clearly the direction. It is his influence that helps elevate a simple story into an exploration of sexual obsession.

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The Single Man, the Ideal Woman and the Vertigo of the Human Heart by Jeremy Ambrose

Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo is a great movie for many reasons. I would like to simply focus on one of them and offer this reflection on it, and it is this: the movie fills me with great fear! Vertigo makes me afraid of being a single man.

Let me explain why.

A single man is often single for many different reasons. Some reasons seem of a providential nature and some reasons seem plainly unflattering for the man in question. However, there is one reason which is truly frightening, and every single man needs to look within himself and fear the possibility that he too is single by virtue of this reason…

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