Vertigo
Of course, it would be unfair of me to hold this to the same standards of modern day films. I’d also like to preface that I am definitely brain rotted from my phone; so I’m sure that my attention span is really bad in comparison to people in the 50’s. With that said, the pacing was painful. I was so sick of seeing the same recycled shot/reverse shot over and over of Scotty following Madeleine in his car. It was the exact same rhythm, with the exact same framing, the exact same way… Every. Time. Not once did they get a different angle of his face; or of the cars for that matter. And they went on for so long! Why did it show him driving behind her in real time as she did her errands? MULTIPLE TIMES!?! I feel like it could have very easily been a montage, maybe two; of him following her. Just that change alone and the movie could have been like 90 minutes instead of 120. That’s not even touching on all of the other super slow unneeded scenes in this dang movie.
On a brighter note, I liked the one scene when Scotty dressed Judy up as Madeleine, and she stepped out of the closet into this ghostly green light that emitted from the neon sighs out the window. That was a really cool shot, and I think it showed the juxtaposition between who she actually was and who he wanted her to be in a creative way. It was like the person that he was looking at was merely a ghost. Unfortunately, that is probably the only positive thing I have to say about the film.
I felt genuinely surprised when she fell into the San Francisco bay. There were no cuts made, and the camera didn’t move at all. After spending so much time seeing her wander aimlessly, it came off as a bit of a jump scare. Not sure if that was an intentional choice or not, because a lot of the movie was just watching her wander around. (Even after she fell in the bay.) It did make me feel something though, so that’s pretty cool.
Also not sure if this was intentional, but Scotty was so creepy the whole time. Like, he was definitely supposed to be scary at the very end of the movie; but to me, he was scary the whole time. Maybe that’s just this not aging super well. Tell me what could possibly be romantic about stalking a girl, not telling anyone about her suicidal tendencies, and then watching her kill herself? Of course, it was later revealed that she was putting on an act all along in order to cover up a murder, but he didn’t know that! Not until the end.
Side note, when a woman is in emotional distress, it is absolutely NOT the time to smooch her. Furthermore, I would argue that Judy was in fact mentally ill or struggling with some kind of something; because she was for some reason absolutely in love with a guy that she knew was stalking her. Then, barged into her apartment, demanded she date him, and pressured her into looking exactly like his dead ex. Not to mention, he looked old enough to be her dad- maybe even grandad. (Quick google search and yep, he was about 50 and she was about 25. Twice her age.) Any mentally stable person would have slammed the door in his face and called the police. She deserved better, but also I guess she assisted a guy murdering his wife in cold blood so, I don’t know. Everyone in this was evil and they sucked.
Don’t even get me started on Midge. They could have just taken her out entirely, and it would have been the exact same movie. Like, that’s how little she added to the plot.
I never want to watch this again. Sorry Alfred Hitchcock, I liked Rear Window; and I’d really like to watch Psycho. Then again, I think your films are problematic in the ways that they portray violence against women.