Vertigo (1958)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
the following contains spoilers.

WHAT I WAS EXPECTING

I had no idea what this film was about. All I could guess from the poster was that the main characer falls, metaphorically or literally, into a twisty and complicated situation.

REACTIONS

I had learned about Vertigo shots before (where the camera moves towards the subject while zooming out at the same time, making it look like the background is moving) but had never made the connection between them and this movie.

Sight and Sound Magazine has named this the Greatest Film of All Time. Fortunately I was unaware of this before watching so my expectations weren't ridiculously high.

The story is certainly mysterious. I wasn't familiar enough with Hitchcock to know whether he would actually include a supernatural element to the story, so I was kept guessing about Carlotta. The intrigue helped carry me through the slow-boil pacing.

Cheeky supporting characters help too

When Kim Novak's character reappeared in the story under the guise of Judy I was just as fooled as James Stewart, at first. Novak was a big and recognizable star in her day so I doubt this was Hitchcock's intention.

Honest mistake, right?

This last third of the film was very gripping as Hitchcock employed his signature suspense. By this point my sympathizes had turned from Stewart's character to Novak's and I couldn't help but cringe as he starting controlling her. Also, it was interesting to see Jimmy Stewart in such a dark role.