Vertigo

The Hitchcock classic, frequently cited as one of the greatest films ever. We had watched it a number of times, but not for many a year now, and we had largely forgotten the plot. What a great treat it was, to be able to watch it 'blind'.
It is deliriously beautiful, deliriously clever and complex, while at once being a straight down the line suspenseful masterpiece.
The washed out, ultra vivid and white colours, are another example of the 'white-noise' noir, the Mody Dick referencing horror of whiteness and blinding sunshine. The reds and the fleshy tones give at once a vividly, horribly alive and unwordly tone to proceedings. Combined with the supernatural elements and the altered states/ mental illness elements, we have quite an impact.
Jimmy Stewart gives his finest performance, moving less amongst the everyman personas and more into a tale of a haunting, looking in the latter scenes a grey, lifeless figure. Kim Novak is both convincing as a femme fatale, and as a genuine interest.
It is the themes of this film that really mark it out as a classic among classics. Is it about mental illness? How real is anything we are seeing? Should we believe the characters or not? What does the phobia mean? The knots tied would need five thousand words to even begine to pick apart.
One question to ask is; what do the red herrings mean? Are they deliberate? This film isn't perfect, a few moments seem a little pointless. Or does the pointlessness just add to the tension and confusion? What? It looks beautiful, and stays in the mind, whatever happens. Even the kaleidoscopic cameras and visuals, which should have dated, still retain power. The music is in some ways the most important method used to keep the suspense; its sometimes inapproriatness, the churning then the shrieking strings, haunts the mind at even the quieter moments.
The final scenes are a lesson in how to end a film, quick, to the point, and with a wonderful rythm as the most heart stopping line in the film (That's When...) comes off the beat. The final images are a plunge down the throat that offers no relief. The audience IS Jimmy Stewart in that moment.
A contendor for the greatest film ever, according to the critics. Sounds about right to us.