If the human race could only preserve one film to remind us what the movies are all about, “Vertigo” should be it.

For me, Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” represents the best example of what film can do more effectively than any other medium, namely to create a mood and sustain it for an extended period of time. Every last detail of the film’s production, including the set designs, the dream-like cinematography, Bernard Hermann’s powerful score (the best of his career, in my opinion), Edith Head’s costumes, and, of course, Hitchcock’s masterful direction, combine to create an overall mood of pyschological and romantic obsession that is unparalleled in all of cinema. “Vertigo” is a prime example of both “auterism” in practice (since Hitchcock’s haunted personal vision shines through every last frame of the film) and the collaborative power of movies (since each artist who worked on this film contributed magnificently and essentially to the whole). Thus, contained within the film are the driving principles of both the Hollywood studio system which was beginning to see its demise upon “Vertigo”’s release and the individualaity of the various New Waves and independent cinemas that would follow. While “Citizen Kane” is often (perhaps deservedly) considered the greatest film of all time, I feel that “Vertigo” contains the emotional depth that is often missing from Welles’ first masterpiece. “Vertigo” forever changed the way I look at movies and is likely to remain my favorite for some time.
By: Jake Adams