Analysis concepts and applications

Vertigo Analysis

Narrative Elements of Vertigo

Vertigo is at its surface a noir film in which the themes of duality are a driving factor of the film's narrative. In the film, the protagonist and femme fatale are dual forces, much like perception and deception. Film noir has been described as "murder with a psychological twist," a descriptor that encompasses the narrative theme of the film (Spicer 1). In Vertigo, the protagonist must overcome psychological traumatization that is induced through perception in order to uncover the truth behind Madeleine Elster's "suicide."

The term film noir was first used by Nino Frank to describe four crime films -- the Maltese Falcon (1941), Murder My Sweet (1944), Double Indemnity (1944), and Laura (1944) -- that shared a common "iconography, visual style, narrative strategy, subject matter and characterization" (4). Traditionally, film noir made use of a criminal investigation as a catalyst for interaction between the hard-boiled detective and the femme fatale (Borde & Chaumeton 7). In film noir, the contradicting natures of the hard-boiled detective and the femme fatale greatly influence how the characters behave. The hard-boiled detective usually becomes "an inglorious victim who undergoes…some appalling beatings" (9). In the case of Scottie, his beatings are both physical and psychological. In Vertigo, John "Scottie" Scottie fulfills the role of the detective even though he has officially retired from the police force and is investigating Madeleine Elster at the request of his acquaintance, Gavin Elster. At the beginning of the film, Scottie is shown to be injured and forced to wear a back brace in addition to having to deal with his acrophobia, a fear of heights, which Gavin exploits in an attempt to get away with murder. Scottie's acrophobia is brought on after watching his partner plummet to his death while in pursuit of a suspect. The femme fatale, Judy Barton -- who is also impersonating Madeleine Elster, must suffer the consequences of her involvement in the plot to deceive Scottie. In film noir, the femme fatale does not survive the scheme in which she is involved in and proves to be "fatal unto herself" (9). In Vertigo, Judy fulfills the role of femme fatale and is complicit in the death of the real Madeleine; when she finally confesses her crimes to Scottie, who gradually overcomes his acrophobia and by the end of the film is able to ascend to the top of a bell tower, an unforeseen accident causes Judy to trip and fall from the tower, resulting in the fulfillment of the femme fatale role.

Two contradicting and complementary themes within the film are the subject of perception and the subject of deception. In Vertigo, "Hitchcock uses subjective shots of Scottie's petrified gaze down at the horrifying drop to the street below to create a scene of psychological trauma (Spicer 81). This trauma makes a major impact on Scottie, whose perceptions -- especially those dealing with heights -- become an impediment to the pursuit and surveillance of Judy/Madeleine. Gavin is able to better understand the limitations of Scottie's acrophobia as Scottie believes that Gavin is a trustworthy individual and is therefore willing to explain the limitations with which he is faced. When Gavin inquires about the extent of Scottie's acrophobia, Scottie replies, "It just means that I can't climb stairs that are too steep or go to high places like the bar at the Top of the Mark. But there are plenty of street-level bars in this town" (Vertigo). Though Scottie implies that his disability is something that he has learned to cope with, Gavin understands that though Scottie has learned to adapt to his condition, it can still be exploited.

Issues of perception and deception are also evident in Judy/Madeleine's character. In the course of the narrative, Judy attempts to pass herself off as Madeleine, who Gavin contends is his wife -- although the legitimate Madeleine has been murdered and Gavin is laying in wait so that he can dispose of her body without arousing suspicion. Judy goes to great lengths to pass herself off as Madeleine and even pretends to be possessed by the spirit of Madeleine's great-grandmother, Carlotta Valdes (Vertigo). Through the successful deception of Scottie, Judy is able to manipulate him into believing that she is Madeleine and is being psychologically haunted by the spirit of her great-grandmother. It is Scottie's willingness to give in to the lie that enables Judy's version of Madeleine to commit "suicide" and successfully complete the ruse that she and Gavin were partners in.