Welcome to the World of Vertigo!

Hello! Get ready to dive into one of the most famous and mind-bending films ever made: Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958). It’s a twisting psychological thriller about obsession, mystery, and love. Sounds intense, right? Don't worry, we're going to break it all down together.

In these notes, we'll explore the film's gripping story, its unforgettable characters, the big ideas (themes) it deals with, and the clever camera tricks and techniques Hitchcock used to make us feel just as dizzy and confused as the main character. Understanding these elements is key to acing your analysis and writing brilliant essays!


The Story: A Quick Rundown (Plot Summary)

Understanding the plot is the first step. Think of the story in three main parts. It’s a rollercoaster, so hold on tight!

Part 1: The Setup

We meet John "Scottie" Ferguson, a detective who has to retire after a rooftop chase leaves him with a crippling fear of heights (acrophobia) and a sense of dizziness (vertigo). An old friend, Gavin Elster, hires him for a strange private investigation. Scottie must follow Elster's beautiful wife, Madeleine, who has been acting strangely. Elster believes she is possessed by the spirit of her tragic great-grandmother, Carlotta Valdes.

Part 2: The Obsession

Scottie follows the mysterious and elegant Madeleine around San Francisco. He becomes fascinated, and then falls deeply in love with her. He saves her after she jumps into the San Francisco Bay, and their connection deepens. However, her "possession" leads her to an old Spanish mission, where she runs up the bell tower. Scottie's vertigo stops him from following her to the top, and he watches in horror as she seemingly jumps to her death. Scottie is devastated and suffers a mental breakdown, consumed by guilt.

Part 3: The Revelation

After being released from hospital, a broken Scottie wanders the streets, haunted by Madeleine's memory. He then meets Judy Barton, a regular shop girl who looks strikingly like Madeleine. Scottie becomes obsessed with transforming Judy into his lost love. He makes her dye her hair, change her clothes, and act just like Madeleine. Judy reluctantly agrees because she is in love with him.

THE BIG TWIST: We learn through a flashback that Judy was hired by Elster to pretend to be Madeleine all along! It was all a trick so Elster could murder his real wife and have Scottie as a witness to a fake "suicide." The woman who jumped from the tower was the real Mrs. Elster. Judy is the woman Scottie fell in love with.

Scottie discovers the truth when he sees Judy wearing a necklace that belonged to Carlotta (and Madeleine). To cure his vertigo and force a confession, he drags her back to the mission and up the bell tower. The shock of confronting the past cures him, but just as Judy confesses her love, a figure appears in the shadows, startling her. She falls from the tower to her death—a tragic, accidental repeat of the first crime.

Key Takeaway

Vertigo is a story that starts as a mystery but becomes a dark tale of obsession, guilt, and the tragic consequences of trying to remake someone into an impossible ideal.


Meet the Characters: More Than Meets the Eye

The characters in Vertigo are complex and psychologically driven. Understanding their motivations is crucial for any analysis.

John "Scottie" Ferguson

  • His Core Problem: Scottie is a man desperate for control, but his vertigo makes him feel powerless. His guilt over the policeman's death at the start of the film makes him vulnerable.
  • His Desire: He falls in love not with a real person, but with the idea of Madeleine – a beautiful, mysterious, and tragic woman he can "save."
  • His Flaw: His obsession is destructive. He doesn't love Judy for who she is; he loves the fantasy of Madeleine. He tries to "play God" by recreating her, which ultimately destroys Judy and leaves him completely alone.

Madeleine Elster / Judy Barton

This is really one person playing two parts. It's a great example of dual identity.

  • As "Madeleine": She is an elegant, mysterious, and fragile fantasy. She is the perfect object for Scottie's obsession. This is the role Judy is paid to play.
  • As Judy: She is an ordinary, lonely, and somewhat common woman from Kansas. She is the reality behind the fantasy. She genuinely falls in love with Scottie but is trapped by her own deception. She is a victim of both Elster's crime and Scottie's obsession.

Midge Wood

  • Her Role: Midge is Scottie's sensible, down-to-earth ex-fiancée. She represents reality and normality, a stark contrast to the dream-like world of Madeleine.
  • Her Motivation: She is clearly in love with Scottie and tries to care for him, acting almost like a mother figure. However, she can't compete with his romantic fantasy. Her attempt to insert herself into his fantasy (by painting herself as Carlotta) backfires, showing that reality has no place in Scottie's obsessed mind.

Gavin Elster

  • His Role: The villain! He is a cold, calculating manipulator who exploits Scottie's weakness (his vertigo) to get away with murdering his wife. He sets the entire tragic story in motion and then disappears, facing no consequences.
Key Takeaway

The characters are not simple heroes and villains. Scottie is a tragic protagonist whose deep flaws lead to destruction. Judy is a complex victim trapped by love and lies. Midge represents a reality that Scottie tragically rejects.


Core Themes: The Big Ideas

Themes are the underlying messages or ideas in a film. For Vertigo, they are mostly about psychology and human nature. Let's look at the most important ones.

Obsession and Idealization

This is the biggest theme of all! Scottie isn't just in love; he's obsessed. He falls for an idealised image of a woman, not a real person. After "Madeleine" dies, he spends all his energy trying to resurrect his perfect fantasy by forcing Judy to become her.

Think of it like this: Imagine you have a favourite photo of a holiday. The photo is perfect. Scottie is trying to live inside that perfect photo forever, ignoring the real, messy world around him.

Deception and Identity

Everyone in this film is pretending to be someone they're not.

  • Judy pretends to be Madeleine.
  • Elster pretends to be a concerned husband.
  • Even Scottie, in the second half, is trying to live a lie by pretending Judy can actually be Madeleine.
The film asks us: Is identity fixed, or is it a performance? Can you ever truly know another person?

The Past, Guilt, and Trauma

Scottie is literally haunted by the past. His guilt over the policeman's death at the beginning and Madeleine's "suicide" traumatises him. The famous spiral motif used throughout the film (in hairstyles, on stairs, in the title sequence) symbolises how Scottie is trapped in a dizzying loop of memory and guilt, unable to move forward.

Appearance vs. Reality

Nothing in Vertigo is what it seems on the surface.

  • The beautiful romance is actually a manipulation.
  • The tragic suicide is actually a cold-blooded murder.
  • The ghostly possession is a carefully planned act.
Hitchcock constantly reminds the audience not to trust what they see, creating a powerful sense of unease and suspense.

Quick Review Box

Memory Aid for Themes: Think "D.O.P.A."
Deception & Identity
Obsession & Idealization
Past, Guilt & Trauma
Appearance vs. Reality


Hitchcock's Toolbox: How the Film is Made (Filmic Techniques)

Alfred Hitchcock was known as the "Master of Suspense" for a reason. He used every filmic tool available to control how the audience feels. Don't just list these techniques in an essay; explain the effect they have!

Cinematography: The Art of the Camera

  • The "Vertigo Effect" (Dolly Zoom): This is the film's most famous invention!
    How it works: The camera physically moves backwards on a dolly (a wheeled platform) while the lens zooms in at the same time.
    The Effect: It creates a disorienting, warped feeling where the background seems to stretch away. Hitchcock uses it to show us Scottie's vertigo when he looks down from a height. It visually puts us inside his head, making us feel his panic and dizziness.
  • Point-of-View (POV) Shots: We often see the world through Scottie's eyes. When he follows Madeleine, the camera acts as his gaze. This forces us to share in his voyeurism (the act of watching someone) and his growing obsession. We become his accomplice.
  • Use of Colour: Colour is used symbolically to tell the story.
    - Green: This is Madeleine's colour. She wears a green dress, drives a green car, and is often bathed in a ghostly green light. Green represents mystery, the supernatural, and Scottie's jealousy.
    - Red: This colour is often associated with passion, danger, and reality. Midge often wears red, and the restaurant where Scottie first sees Madeleine is filled with red wallpaper.
    - Grey: This represents Scottie's bleak, colourless life after Madeleine's death. He wears a grey suit and lives in a grey world until he meets Judy.

Mise-en-scène: Everything in the Frame

Mise-en-scène (pronounced meez-on-sen) is a French term that means "placing on stage." It refers to everything the director chooses to put in a shot: the setting, props, costumes, lighting, etc.

  • Locations: The steep hills of San Francisco visually represent the ups and downs of the story and Scottie's acrophobia. The giant redwood trees, which have been alive for centuries, make Madeleine talk about the past and death, adding to her mystery.
  • Motifs (Recurring Symbols):
    - Spirals: The most important motif! Seen in Carlotta's hair, the staircase, and the opening credits. They symbolise dizziness, obsession, and the feeling of being trapped in a cycle you can't escape.
    - Mirrors and Reflections: Used constantly to show dual identities (Madeleine/Judy) and self-deception. Characters often look at themselves, questioning who they really are.
    - Flowers: Madeleine's bouquet is a copy of one in the portrait of Carlotta. Flowers represent both romance and death (like flowers on a grave).

Sound and Music

Bernard Herrmann's musical score is legendary. The music is like another character in the film. The main theme swirls and repeats, just like a spiral, perfectly capturing the feeling of obsession and doomed romance. The music tells us what to feel—whether it's mystery, love, or terror.

Key Takeaway

Hitchcock is a master craftsman. He uses camera techniques (dolly zoom, POV), colour, symbols (spirals, mirrors), and music to create the film's unique, dream-like, and unsettling atmosphere. Every element is carefully chosen to enhance the psychological themes.


Putting It All Together: How to Analyse a Scene

Let's do a quick analysis of a key scene: Judy's transformation back into Madeleine.

Don't worry if this seems tricky at first. Just follow these steps!

  1. What is happening? (Plot)
    Scottie has forced Judy to change her hair and clothes. She finally emerges from the bathroom, fully transformed into the "Madeleine" he remembers. They embrace.
  2. How does the camera show it? (Cinematography & Lighting)
    Judy is initially shown as a silhouette, bathed in a ghostly green light from the hotel's neon sign. As she walks towards Scottie, the light is soft and dream-like. When they kiss, the camera famously circles them in a 360-degree shot. As it circles, the background magically changes from the hotel room to the stables at the mission where they kissed as Scottie and "Madeleine."
  3. What do we hear? (Sound)
    Bernard Herrmann's powerful, romantic "love theme" swells and fills the scene. There is no dialogue, only music.
  4. What does it all mean? (Themes & Effect)
    This scene is the climax of Scottie's obsession. The green light links Judy back to the mysterious, ghostly Madeleine. The 360-degree spinning shot mimics the feeling of vertigo and shows that Scottie is lost in his fantasy. The changing background literally shows he is no longer in reality—he is reliving the past. The music makes the moment feel incredibly romantic, but it's also deeply disturbing. He hasn't accepted Judy; he has erased her identity to bring back a ghost. It is the tragic moment where his fantasy is complete, just before it all comes crashing down.

Common Mistake to Avoid: Don't just say, "Hitchcock uses a 360-degree shot." Instead, explain WHY: "Hitchcock uses a 360-degree shot to immerse the audience in Scottie's dizzying emotional state, visually representing the peak of his obsessive fantasy as he successfully resurrects his idealised version of the past."


Final Thoughts & Exam Tips

Vertigo is a rich, complex film that gets better with every watch. It might seem confusing, but all its strange, dream-like qualities are intentional. Hitchcock wants you to feel as lost as Scottie.

For your essays, remember to connect the dots:

  • Connect a character's actions to a theme. (e.g., Scottie's controlling behaviour demonstrates the destructive nature of obsession.)
  • Connect a filmic technique to a theme or character's feeling. (e.g., The dolly zoom visually expresses Scottie's psychological trauma, not just his physical fear of heights.)
  • Always explain the EFFECT of a choice Hitchcock makes. Why that colour? Why that camera angle? Why that music?

This film is a journey into the darkest corners of the human mind. Take your time with it, re-watch key scenes, and think about how they make you feel. You've got this!