Vertigo

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A film of extraordinary romanticism, richness and invention – no wonder Hitchcock’s thrilling, Freudian masterpiece continues to top ‘greatest film’ lists.

Ex-cop Scottie (James Stewart) is hired by an old school friend to shadow his enigmatic wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak). But as Scottie rescues her from an apparent suicide attempt at the Golden Gate Bridge, their lives become inextricably linked.

Scottie and Madeleine are two of cinema’s most memorable characters. The complexity of their relationship, and Hitchcock’s constant probing of their psychologies, is more than a match for the brilliantly disorientating twists of the plot.

There are shots and sequences that make you want to gasp out loud. Even on repeated viewing, Vertigo never ceases to shock and surprise, with new depths and rewards surfacing each time.

USA 1958. Director Alfred Hitchcock. With James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes. 128 mins. PG

Vertigo was listed at no. 2 in the Sight & Sound poll of The Greatest Films of All Time. Voters for the film included actor Tilda Swinton and directors Ari Aster (Midsommar), John Carpenter (Halloween) and Joachim Trier (Sentimental Value).