In 1959, Alfred Hitchcock not only made one of his best films, Vertigo – From the Realm of the Dead, he also created one Milestone of the thriller genre. The film also plays with a special effect – the vertigo effect and is, like no other work, firmly linked to film history itself.
You can now stream Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo immediately on Amazon Prime in a flat rate.
That’s what Hitchcock’s famous thriller Vertigo on Amazon Prime is about
Police officer John Ferguson (James Stewart) struggles with the consequences after a tragic mission: Severe fear of heights and feelings of guilt about his partner who died in an accident lead him to his temporary resignation from duty. His platonic friend Midge Wood (Barbara Bel Geddes) supports him in his crisis.
When an old school friend asks John for his help, he is quickly back in business. And the case is extremely bizarre. The client claims his wife is possessed by her grandmother’s spirit and is suicidal. John Ferguson doesn’t believe in ghosts, but helps a friend in need. At the same time, he can’t take his eyes off his wife Madeleine Elster (Kim Novak).
In idyllic San Francisco in 1958 So John Ferguson starts tailing Madeleine. His professional interest in her quickly becomes personal. He can no longer get her out of his head and is drawn into a dark vortex of deception and obsession.
Beautiful and tricky: Vertigo is a milestone in film history
Vertigo has been around for decades among the best films ever made. At least if you pay attention to prestigious lists like the Sight & Sound survey. He was even at number 1 there for a long time and had replaced Citizen Kane until he was dethroned by Jeanne Dielman in 2022.
Hitchcock used some ingenious techniques for Vertigo that make the thriller the landmark thriller it is today. With the Vertigo effectwhere Vertigo means nothing other than dizziness in German, a feeling of dizziness is created using various camera techniques. The Vertigo effect is used more frequently in the film and completely throws us into John Ferguson’s perspective. Our film experience and the protagonist’s experience are very similar – you are literally glued to the screen and are quickly thrown off by the recurring dizziness.
Another special feature is the structure of the film. Even though the end is already halfway through the film, there is still a lot more to come. Vertigo performs incredibly a lot of time for its main character: first fear of heights, then guilt and finally obsession. There is still one detail that John Ferguson didn’t capture. As soon as clarity sets in, everything turns upside down again.
Over the decades, many film fans and makers have written about Vertigo, borrowed techniques from it and been influenced by the thriller masterpiece. Master director Martin Scorsese also dedicated himself to this unique film in the foreword to the book Vertigo: The Making Of A Hitchcock Classic by Dan Auiler, as can be read in The Guardian:
Entire books could be written about individual aspects of the film: its extraordinary visual precision that cuts into the characters’ souls like a razor; all the mysteries and moments of subtle poetry; the stirring and exquisite use of color; the outstanding performances of Stewart and Kim Novak (…).
Don’t miss this milestone in the thriller genre from legendary director Alfred Hitchcock! Vertigo is now streaming on Amazon Prime in a flat rate.