Vertigo (1958) - Textual Analysis

Vertigo is a psychological thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958. The story of Vertigo is an adaptation of the 1954’s French novel “D’entre les Morts” (“The Living and the Dead”) by Pierre Boileau & Thomas Narcejac. The film received mixed reviews upon release but it is now often cited as a classical Hitchcock film. Many people quote this as his best piece of work “masterpiece”. Vertigo stars James Stewart as a former police detective John “Scottie” Ferguson. Scottie was forced into early retirement because of an incident during a duty, which caused him to develop acrophobia, an extreme fear of heights and a vertigo (a sensation of false, rotational movement). Scottie was hired by an acquaintance private investigator, Gavin Elster, to follow Gavin’s wife Madeleine.

During the film there is not much dialogue, but when there is, it is like a question and answer type formal/casual conversation. Conversations between Scottie and Judy (Madeleine) are stern but loving and caring as well as aggressive at the same time. The weird hallucinations that Scottie is seeing are very paranoid dreams. Scottie watched and allowed the woman that he loves to commit suicide by jumping off of the church’s clock tower, then leaves straight after she jumped, claiming that he had a blackout. He visits her grave every now and then. Scottie starts seeing hallucinations of; pink, red, yellow flowers, a woman at the court room, Madeleine’s grave is empty and he imagines himself falling off of the roof as a black figure/shadow instead of his lover. We later on see another woman, may be his mother visiting his in hospital or a mental institute with red roses.

The mise en scene we see within Vertigo is locations such as; the court room, hospital room, church and the church tower. Scottie has these paranoid dreams or hallucinations about pink, red, yellow flowers, sees a woman at the court room, goes to a grave to see it empty and we see him falling off on to the roof, instead of his lover. He imagines himself (Scottie) falling (black figure/shadow). The dialogue used in Vertigo is formal, aggressive and stern but loving at the same time towards Judy/Madeleine. Not much dialogue is used most of the time, but when there is, it is structured in a question and answer style put in to a casual conversation.

We see the transformation of Judy with her hair colour and the style, as well as the clothes she is wearing. They both seem happy right before they are getting ready to go to Ernies, Judy pulls out the same exact necklace from the portrait he saw from the art museum that he knew Madeleine had. Scottie realized what was going on and took Judy to the exact same place Madeleine died and got Judy to act like her for the night so he can get rid of the past.  He realized that Judy was lying. The necklace gave it away as he started questioning her angrily in the church tower. He is somehow trying to get rid of the past, by going back to the crime scene. After the argument in the church tower with Scottie, they both hear a voice from the shadows in the tower, which scares Judy more and she actually jumps and takes her life. This leaves us confused to who she thought it was. It may have been the ghost of the real Madeleine or the husband, but the nun walks out of the shadows just after she jumps off.

There are many things we can consider when it comes to think about if Vertigo is a love story or not.

Lighting

The lighting includes natural and high key lighting. During the hallucinations, we see various different colours such as pink, red, blue etc. which reflects all kinds of different moods from the lighting.

Love Story

Judy is being controlled by Scottie and does everything he wants her to. He was so focused on Madeleine, and he found someone who looks like her and he can change, so he focuses all his time on Judy.

Genre

Vertigo includes a variety of different genres, which are a part of this film in many ways. Some of these genres such as;

-       Crime

-       Love story

-       Thriller

-       Noir

-       Detective

-       Psychological drama

At the end of the film, it leaves us with a thought of why Judy jumps from the tower after she hears a voice in the shadows whilst with Scottie. She may have thought it was the ghost of the real Madeleine or Madeleine’s husband lurking in the shadows.  Throughout this twisted love story, Scottie is constantly controlling Judy because he is so focused on Madeleine and now he is focusing all his time on Judy. There are many genres within this film which include; crime, thriller, love story, noir, detective, psychological drama

Scottie is not the conventional hero that everyone expects to see in a film. He has fatal flaws such as a fear of heights, he is a weak, abusive hero, who is passionately in love, witnessed 2 deaths, in love with a married woman who is his best friends wife. There is also a solved mystery at the end even though there is a death

The heroin, Judy is not the traditional heroin. She is a damsel in distress with a fairytale ending at the church tower. She has an evil side as Madeleine, who helps a murder take place as well as a good side as Judy, who has an emotional and normal side to her who is a normal, emotional person with feelings.

Two of the main characters Madeleine/Judy and Scottie both have 2 sides to each character. It has a dual nature and the same story had been told twice. Scottie has a neurosis, which makes Judy dress as Madeleine. We see many shots in mirrors to show 2 sides to each character. The lighting used; pink, red and blue reflects all the different moods with a lot of lighting.

Both characters have 2 sides to each, a dual nature. We, as the audience see the story told twice. Scottie has neurosis, which makes himself wanting to replace Madeleine, so he makes Judy look like her. We also see a various amount of colours and many shots in mirrors.

Finally, we come across many subjective shots, which include; seeing things through Scottie’s eye, like the blurriness of Judy’s head once she comes out of the bathroom with her hairstyle different before the date. We see Madeleine’s face instead of Judy’s. There are many different places where we can analyze with more than one answer throughout the film.

The Trip (2010) - Experimental Comedy

“The Trip” is a British television sitcom series first broadcasted in the UK on BBC Two and BBC HD in 2010. ‘The Trip’ is directed by Michael Winterbottom and stars Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon. We watch fictionalized versions of themselves undertaking a restaurant tour of Northern England. Steve is a food critic for the UK’s Observer who is joined on a working road trip by his friend Rob when Steve’s romantic relationship fell apart.

In one scene of the episode we were shown, we see Steve Coogan outside on the phone to his girlfriend and we can hear her voice in response to what he’s saying as a voice over. ‘The Trip’ was also nominated for the BAFTA Television Award for the Best Situation Comedy in 2011. Steve Coogan won the award for the Best Male Comedy Performance. In the 2012 Broadcast awards in London, ‘The Trip’ won the best new programme award.

Humour within this episode is created with the fact that Steve does not want his friend with and the arguments created between them. As we see Steve on the phone to his wife outside in the cold, as the audience, we could hear the voiceover from the other side of the phone call he is having. “The Trip” follows two work friends on a journey and how they put up with each other, which creates humour.

The Singing Detective (1986) - Experimental Drama

‘The Singing Detective’ is a BBC television serial Film Noir/musical drama written by Dennis Potter and directed by Jon Amiel in 1986, which stars Michael Gambon. Michael Gambon plays a character who is tormented and bedridden by a debilitating disease. He relives his detective stories through his imagination and hallucinations with his alter ego.

During the episode shown to us of ‘The Singing Detective’ in the screening, we come across voice-overs and mystery music being played at parts in the episode. There are also uses of diegetic and non-diegetic music. The harmonica has been used for diegetic sound and the mystery music soundtrack as non-diegetic sound. 

With the musical scenes in the hospital, it makes it theatrical as well as including some comedy involved. We see a switch between visions, flashbacks and hallucinations of the crime that his alter ego has commit while we see him a hospital bed with burns on his body. This drama has more of a theatrical side to it with the musical sequences throughout as well as mystery music being played. Comedy has also been used within the dialogue of the main character as well as a voiceover.

Grizzly Man (2005) - Naturalism

‘Grizzly Man’ is a documentary film directed by German director Werner Herzog in 2005. This film is a documentary within a documentary about Timothy Treadwell and his interactions with grizzly bears which consists of Treadwell’s own filmed footage before he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed and eaten by a bear in 2003. 

It also consists of interviews with family/friends or people who knew him. The footage Treadwell shot was found later and the final film was co-produced by Discovery Docs and Lions Gate Entertainment. Timothy Treadwell spent 13 summers in Katmai National Park and Preserve, Alaska. He believed that overtime the bears trusted him and they would allow him to approach, touch them sometimes. He was repeatedly warned by park officials that hi interaction with the bears was unsafe for him and the bears. At the end of his 13th visit in 2003, Treadwell and his girlfriend were attacked, killed, and partially eaten by a bear.

Naturalism in ‘Grizzly Man’ has been used really well and helps the audience connect with the filmmaker. The use of handheld camera as well as interviews with his friends and professionals help to understand his lifestyle. Timothy’s use of humour, swearing and his natural acts on camera show the naturalism of the documentary film. The sounds of police sirens can be heard when his actor friend was talking about the news of his death. Treadwell’s interaction with the wild bears is a reflection of how he see’s himself that he thought of himself as a bear. 

He would act as if the camera had never been there, as a fly on the wall observational documentary. The voiceovers used are expository which tells a story with statistics and facts with confessional quality, which can be private and personal. This film is also observational because we see shots of the foxes and bears when Timothy is not in shot especially a confessional quality, private or personal. Things Timothy talks about such as girls, women, drinks and alcohol raises ethical questions but it also shows a natural lifestyle.

Cathy Come Home (1996) - Sound and Image

Cathy Come Home is a British Television Play broadcasted on BBC 1 about homelessness from 1996 by Jeremy Sandford, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach. This realistic drama documentary tells the story of a young couple, Cathy (played by Carol White) and Reg (Ray Brooks) through their journey of life as Reg gets injured, loses his job and Cathy has her children taken away from her by social services. They face life of poverty and unemployment and illegally squatting in empty houses as well as staying in shelters.

Cathy Come Home is a black and white film put on TV and one of the first fictions made on film. Handheld camera is also used which makes the audience pay more attention to what is going on. The mood that is created is very intimate and sad. Cathy is trying to live with minimal money and cope with someone to live with 3 kids. This play is set on real locations with minimal script and natural performances.

Sound and image within Cathy Come Home is simply used. During the play, the main conversation is the one between Cathy and Reg, but we hear voiceovers from Reg’s mum, Reg, Cathy etc. as well as their everyday conversations throughout their struggles. Cars can be heard as an everyday event with party scenes. There have also been facts given out throughout the play as a voiceover and heard unseen interviews. The voice of God has been used.

Paying attention throughout this play is needed to understand what is going on. As for image in this play, the camera shots used makes it look like a documentary style and more realistic than a fiction. Cathy and Reg’s, are intimate, sad, and set on real locations and a minimal script being used which makes the performances natural.