17.
How useful have you found a particular film critical approach,
such as an auteur or genre approach, in gaining a deeper
understanding and appreciation of your chosen film? [30]?
In this essay I will be writing about Vertigo directed by Alfred
Hitchcock.
One theory that I have found useful in understanding this very
complex film is the Auteur theory. The theory suggests that
the director can use the film-making tools available to him as a
writer uses his pen and paper.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s French filmmakers like François Truffaut claimed that
Hitchcock was an artist whose films were distinctive. They said that there
were certain characteristics that made every Hitchcock film ‘Hitchcockian’.
One of the most obvious of these characteristics is that Hitchcock almost
always made a cameo appearance in his films. These appearances were usually
comic and can be seen as a sort of playful signature that he puts into his work.
In Vertigo this signature comes just before Scottie meets Elster for the first
time. Hitchcock walks across the screen carrying a bugle case. This matches a
number of other films where he is seen carrying a musical instrument.
All of Hitchcock's films are marked by his mastery of cinematic technique
which can be seen in his use of camera viewpoints, elaborate editing and
soundtrack to build suspense. Notorious includes an incredible zoom-in from a
high shot to an extreme close-up of a key in the protagonist’s hand. Vertigo is a
very sophisticated film technically. Hitchcock here invented what has become
known as the ‘Vertigo’ shot to represent Scottie’s acrophobia.
Another trope that features in many of his films is the ‘Hitchcock Blonde’.
Many of his female protagonists were blonde. An example of this is in Rear
Window, where Grace Kelly is represented almost as the ‘perfect’ blonde.
Hitchcock controlled the appearance of his actresses very carefully just as
Scottie does when he recreates Madeleine using Judy.
Hitchcock’s reputation was for suspense thrillers such as Dial M for Murder
and it can be argued that the scene where he uses a flashback and Judy’s
letter to reveal the plot of the film destroys any suspense. Audiences at the
time of the film’s release felt that it weakened the film. Some critics,
however, say that the genre is changed by this scene. It becomes a film about
obsession and madness. Roger Ebert says that the film from this point is about
Judy: ‘her pain, her loss, the trap she's in.’ Hitchcock also plays this kind of a
trick on his audience in Psycho when the ‘protagonist’ is killed very early on in
the film.
Another characteristic of Hitchcock’s films was what he called ‘the icebox
trade’. He put moments in his films that were not explained. He wanted an
audience to talk about the films after they had left the cinema and to come and
see the film again. There are several examples of this in Vertigo. There is no
explanation of how Scottie gets down from the gutter at the beginning of the
film. The audience are not told how Madeleine has been undressed after she
has jumped into San Francisco Bay. There is no explanation of how she has
disappeared when she goes into the McKittrick Hotel.
Another common characteristic of an auteur is that they often have a team of
collaborators who they work with again and again. This is very true of Vertigo
where Saul Bass designed the title sequence. Edith Head was the costume
designer and Bernard Herrmann composed the score. Alma Reville, Hitchcock’s
wife supervised the production and editing of the film as she had on almost
every film that Hitchcock made.
The critical debate about Vertigo focuses on whether this is a ‘classic’
Hitchcock film. There is little doubt that he can be described as an auteur and
that he plays with his audience’s expectations here. He has created this film as
a puzzle for audiences and critics. As Peter Matthew has said ‘Vertigo is a
crafty, duplicitous machine for spinning meaning’.
Ok. Can you see what I’ve done there?
Short introduction with an explanation of auteur theory
Sections about - attitudes to women, the flashback scene, icebox
moments, the ending.
Short conclusion giving my opinion with a quotation.
