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The Deviant Psychology In Alfred Hitchcock's Vrtigo

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Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo can be interpreted on many levels. Literally, it is about a man, Scottie (James Stewart), who acts against his morals and follows his friend Gavin’s (Tom Helmore) wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), only to find himself falling for her. Metaphorically, Vertigo emphasizes Scottie’s awkward journey as he looks for someone to share his burdens with. However, he ends up losing Madeleine and finds a reincarnated version of her, Judy (Kim Novak), to shape into his idea of a perfect woman. Viewers are left gripping their seats in anticipation as they find out before Scottie that Gavin was playing him all along and that Judy impersonated Madeleine, leading her to jump off a church’s roof. Now Scottie is blanketed with anguish as he stands at the scene of the crime once again, looking upon his lover Judy’s dead body. For first-time viewers, Vertigo is sure to take you on a journey where an almost happy and cliché conclusion is quickly replaced by one filled with horror and disbelief. What makes this film worth watching is the deviant psychology that is in play and the way that Hitchcock can make characters look incredibly screwed up. Vertigo is a magnificently made film because of the way the romantic paradox is played out with masterfully crafted visuals paired with the manipulation of the characters’ psychologies. The first reason Vertigo is a magnificently made film is because of the portrayal of mirrored notions in romance through the plot. In the film,

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