Without extensive knowledge of the technical side of Alfred Hitchcock before this class began, it has been a process learning and trying to understand all the different aspects to who he was, how he filmed, the technical nature of his work, the meanings behind certain actions or objects, and so on. One of these aspect seemed to be clarified to a certain extent while watching Vertigo. In my opinion, I believe that this movie is a culmination and inclusion of so many of the nuances of Hitchcock's works. The aspect I am speaking of here is Alfred Hitchcock as an auteur.
I am not sure there is any one specific moment, or if it was the overall film, that really got the notion to click with me. In fact, it was not just this film, but the collection of Hitchcock films we have viewed over the course of the class that has all culminated in a clarification of the style of the man. I found a quote from Hitchcock that displays this notion perfectly:
"In feature films the director is God; in documentary films God is the director."
The exact definition of an auteur is a filmaker who has a personal style and keeps creative control over his or her works.
Although this is one of many variations of the definition, it gets the point across. This was Alfred Hitchcock.
Before we get into too detail about the examples of auteurism in Vertigo, I found another quote that demonstrates this quality in Hitchcock quite well. Janet Leigh, one of the stars in Psycho, stated this about Alfred Hitchcock, "Psycho gave me wrinkled very wrinkled skin. I was in that shower for seven days - 70 setups. At least. he made sure the water was warm." Hitchcock demanded perfection, or at least what he determined was perfect to him. It was not uncommon for him to do this many takes. He dictated everything that went on, if it was not the way he wanted, it was done, redone, and then redone as many times as it would be to get it just the way he wanted.
Now onto Vertigo. Another awesome James Stewart movie where he plays a man named Scottie who is an ex detective, who, with side effects from his real life Vertigo, is forced into a new role. Hired to investigate the going-ons of a friends wife, he finds himself falling in love with her, only to have her die in front of his eyes. Or so he thinks. This is a tale of deceit and obsession that, as stated earlier, has nearly every Hitchcockian element that you can imagine. Consider, as an auteur, Hitchcock had his creative ideas in mind and definitely made them known throughout this movie.
Start off with the fact that the lead woman, Judy/Madeline, played by Kim Novak, is, surprise-surprise, a blonde haired bombshell that is so commonly found in his films. Scottie falls in love with Judy, but even from the very beginning it is easily seen that she has issues and Scottie is continually fighting to help her.
This is a common theme by Hitchcock. his obsession with the blonde beauty is as apparent as the portrayal of the women in his films being weak. While some have moments or start of being strong willed females, nearly all end up as the weak girl who needs to man to help or save her. Possibly Hitchcock had some bad relationships along the way, he could have some serious mommy issues, or any one of hundreds of reasons, but his view on women is constructed in this film extremely well. Judy's death is falsified, Scottie sees a woman that reminds him of her, and in reality it is her. She falls in love with Scotty and foolishly succumbs to his obsessions and desires in transforming back to the woman she once portrayed, all in the name of making him happy. She is controlled by Scotty. Nearly all the women in his movies meet the same fate.
Hitchcock's use of sound has developed nicely by this point in his career and he has the ability to really use that as a strength in the film. He knows just how the music should sound, when it should start, and when it should stop. This is a huge benefit in his movies as he masters the art and benefits of the use of sound to create or enhance mood and emotion.
Another common theme in films by Hitchcock is the entrance of evil or bad into a peaceful happy setting. Sometimes a town, sometimes a store, or any such variation it always seems as though the norm is interrupted and issues are forced to be met.
There are lists of things that we can talk about which help us describe the fact that Hitchcock was an auteur. I have listed a few, but from what we know, Hitchcock was very demanding, and often times a very difficult man to work with. The films were his. The story was his. It was his to portray and if you did not like it, then there was no room for you in the project. He was a visionary and an amazing filmmaker, so who would be one to step in the way of such a man. He had the vision, let the artist work.
On a side note, Vertigo was a jacked up story. The weakness of Judy was so irritating and the pure psycho of Scottie was at times brutal to watch and angering. But again, that how Hitchcock wanted it, that what Hitchcock made. A disturbing movie none the less.
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