Post by klep on Mar 7, 2016 7:31:13 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/7: Vertigo
Vertigo is famously Alfred Hitchcock's most personal film. So many of his films featured ice cold blonds which he treated imperiously and frequently poorly. It was with this one, however, that the lens finally turned back on itself and explored the psyche of a man who would be so controlling and manipulative. James Stewart couldn't have been a better choice for this role; his long-established genial persona making him instantly sympathetic despite his lack of consideration for the women in his life.
Because the signs are there early. John (Stewart) is blind to the continued affections of his friend Midge, indicating a certain degree of thoughtless self-absorption. And it isn't long before we find our "hero" actively pursuing someone whom he believes to be a married woman. When "Madeleine" first falls into the bay, he takes her back to his place rather than to a hospital or to her own home. Soon after that, he's inviting himself along with her on a day trip. It's pretty scummy behavior for America's golden boy.
Then the great clocktower scene happens, and Stewart cracks up thinking "Madeleine" has died. After his breakdown, of course, things get even worse. Midge completely disappears from the narrative after devotedly tending to John in his infirmity - leaving us thinking he's completely ungrateful. When he meets Judy on the street after he recovers he strongarms his way into an abusive relationship with her, treating her as an object for him to dress up. Upon unraveling the plot, he sees himself as righteously solving a murder, but by that point the viewer has such sympathy for Judy that we see John as the true monster before the past becomes prologue and she falls to her doom.
Hitchcock is such a master of handling tone that we are only dimly aware of the shift in our sympathies. The first obvious indicator of things going wrong is when he fades out on Midge in the asylum, but because she was only sporadically in the film up to that point, it takes a while for it to set in that she's gone. And he films Judy with such respect and affection that it's easy to forget she was a part of a scam to murder a rich man's wife. Her love for John is made out to be so true that his treatment of her becomes more monstrous than her own bad acts.
There's so much to unravel and discuss in what the Sight & Sound poll calls the Greatest Film of All Time, but I've already gone on for quite a while, so let's open the floor! What makes Vertigo such a special film to you?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/14: I Love You Philip Morris
Our next Movie of the Week is this black comedy starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as two convicts who fall in love. Based on a true story, I can't say much else about it because I haven't seen it yet! I Love You Philip Morris is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/3: The Witch
We'll have an opportunity to discuss this thrilling new horror film and how it is related to The Wicker Man on Wednesday. The Witch is still in theaters.
Vertigo is famously Alfred Hitchcock's most personal film. So many of his films featured ice cold blonds which he treated imperiously and frequently poorly. It was with this one, however, that the lens finally turned back on itself and explored the psyche of a man who would be so controlling and manipulative. James Stewart couldn't have been a better choice for this role; his long-established genial persona making him instantly sympathetic despite his lack of consideration for the women in his life.
Because the signs are there early. John (Stewart) is blind to the continued affections of his friend Midge, indicating a certain degree of thoughtless self-absorption. And it isn't long before we find our "hero" actively pursuing someone whom he believes to be a married woman. When "Madeleine" first falls into the bay, he takes her back to his place rather than to a hospital or to her own home. Soon after that, he's inviting himself along with her on a day trip. It's pretty scummy behavior for America's golden boy.
Then the great clocktower scene happens, and Stewart cracks up thinking "Madeleine" has died. After his breakdown, of course, things get even worse. Midge completely disappears from the narrative after devotedly tending to John in his infirmity - leaving us thinking he's completely ungrateful. When he meets Judy on the street after he recovers he strongarms his way into an abusive relationship with her, treating her as an object for him to dress up. Upon unraveling the plot, he sees himself as righteously solving a murder, but by that point the viewer has such sympathy for Judy that we see John as the true monster before the past becomes prologue and she falls to her doom.
Hitchcock is such a master of handling tone that we are only dimly aware of the shift in our sympathies. The first obvious indicator of things going wrong is when he fades out on Midge in the asylum, but because she was only sporadically in the film up to that point, it takes a while for it to set in that she's gone. And he films Judy with such respect and affection that it's easy to forget she was a part of a scam to murder a rich man's wife. Her love for John is made out to be so true that his treatment of her becomes more monstrous than her own bad acts.
There's so much to unravel and discuss in what the Sight & Sound poll calls the Greatest Film of All Time, but I've already gone on for quite a while, so let's open the floor! What makes Vertigo such a special film to you?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/14: I Love You Philip Morris
Our next Movie of the Week is this black comedy starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor as two convicts who fall in love. Based on a true story, I can't say much else about it because I haven't seen it yet! I Love You Philip Morris is available on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/3: The Witch
We'll have an opportunity to discuss this thrilling new horror film and how it is related to The Wicker Man on Wednesday. The Witch is still in theaters.