by Chelsea Fang, ’18

A film that focuses simultaneously on the dark cyclicality of life and on disruptive, stunning twists and turns that leave you shocked and unsettled to the bone, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 psychological thriller, Vertigo, is a whirlwind of an experience that leaves you under its dizzying spell. Following an incident that results in the fatal fall of a fellow officer from a building several stories high, detective John Ferguson develops crippling acrophobia that ultimately leads to his resignation from his work. A restless, unoccupied mess, John is unable to turn down the favor proposed by an old friend to fall back into undercover detective work, despite his few reservations. He’s tasked with protecting the wife of his old friend John Elster, Madeleine Elster, but what starts out as ordinary detective work evolves within the first few days into something more mysterious, sinister and twisted. The film is full of swirl motifs, of winding paths, of dizzying camera shots that appear in every single sequence, on top of the repeated settings and blockings that occur with every advancement the film takes, yet repetitive it is not. It keeps you at the edge of your seat, every single moment of clarity and resolve is dashed by the uncovering of new details and when the hidden running subplot of the film is revealed, there’s not even a registered moment of respite before the film launches back into action at what seems like 2x speed, somehow leaving you even more disconcerted and horrified and unsettled than before. It leaves you feeling like you’ve been whirled around in a centrifuge and with a distinct feeling that something is not right, but in the most enthralling way. Ultimately, Vertigo is a film that explores the darkest crevices of humanity and exposes how any good intention can be corrupted.

It is another one of the many acclaimed mind-bending psychological thrillers from Hitchcock, but it is revolutionary too. The filming and editing techniques employed in this film- the “dolly zoom”, animated hallucinogenic swirl patterns, monochromatic color overlays, low angle shots- are not only essential to the project itself, but also to the entirety of the film industry. To stimulate the feeling of vertigo in the audience and create connection with the John’s frame of mind, the cinematographers were the first to employ a technique now known popularly as the dolly zoom, sometimes even called the Hitchcock zoom or vertigo effect. It’s a hyper-disorienting filming technique involving perspective distortion that leaves you dizzied and dazed, perhaps one could call it – a feeling of vertigo. This effect was not used lightly throughout the film, but used in all moments of intense conflict, realization, and pinch points further than the twisted plot alone ever could. The first use of this effect happens within the first few minutes of the film at the event that served as the impetus for Ferguson’s acrophobia-the fatal fall of his coworker. The camera zooms in on the street below as it pulls away and you’re left feeling like you’ve fallen down that building as well. This dolly-zoom is not only dizzying and disorienting, but is also is driving force in the film, hypnotically luring you in and eliciting physical, visceral responses.

John Ferguson’s character is startlingly different from minute 1 to the final minute 128 of the film. We meet him as a composed, but jaded, who has lost his direction in life. As the events of the film progress, as it slowly becomes more twisted, darker and unsettling, John’s character becomes more and more unstable. John Ferguson’s descent from grace begins on a path paved with good intentions, but quickly devolves and falls to a state of degeneracy. As his morals loosen, his sanity begins to teeter over the edge. In his diagnosis following the incident that served as the impetus for his retirement, John is told that it will take another tragic unsettling incident to cure his acrophobia and when that moment actually comes, he finds himself incapacitated even further by the trauma. His mental break is drawn out, building in intensity until he bursts in the startlingly jarring and upsetting finale.

Vertigo is a timeless piece that tells a story about the nature of humanity, albeit dramatized and exaggerated. Its innovative cinematography would go on change the entire film industry and its dark thrill will keep audiences of any generation enthralled and will leave its mark on all those who watch.