Vertigo

I'm a fan of Alfred Hitchcock's. Or, maybe better, I tend to like his movies. I suppose for directors I recognize and "follow", he would be in my Top Ten. Every movie of his I've seen, I've really enjoyed.

Except Vertigo.

Oh, the technique he developed for the vertigo effect is wonderful. And Jimmy Stuart and Kim Novak are quite wonderful. But the movie just left me feeling, "So what? This is really lame and empty." I really couldn't understand what people saw in this movie, and certainly not why anyone would rank it their favorite Hitchcock movie. I know virtually every movie's is someone's favorite movie, but there's no accounting for some people's taste.

Before legions of Hitchcock/Vertigo fans attack, please, please, please, read the rest of the story.

I went to see my mother this past weekend (the fourth weekend). She has cable (I don't), and I enjoy getting to watch SCi-Fi, Cartoon Network, Nick, HGTV, etc. This time, I watched quite a bit of TCM (Turner Classic Movies). There was a Hitchcock festival on TCM, and I watched several movies, one of which was, you guessed it, Vertigo. Actually, it was already running when I came across it. I told my mother that I was going to watch it again, but that I just didn't get why people like this movie. I was going to give it a fourth or fifth try.

An important note before continuing: I have only seen Vertigo on tv, not on DVD. I'm still not sure how it figures in, but I know that it does somewhere or somehow.

We get to the point after the inquest (which I don't recall ever seeing before), but I do remember Jimmy Stewart being in the recovery asylum.

Then, the movie continues. My jaw hits the floor (not really, that would hurt, but, you know, it's just an expression of surprise, shock, and/or awe). I've never seen this bit before. Who's this Judy woman? And I continue watching, understanding more and more why people like this movie. When it's over, I'm furiously trying to figure out how in the world I could have not seen the most important part of the movie — multiple times! It's still not my favorite Hitchcock film (either Psycho or North by Northwest fills that role), but it has certainly moved way up the list as an interesting movie, one I can unreservedly recommend others watch.