Retrospective: Vertigo (Patreon)

Like all great directors, Hitchcock understood that plots making strict logical sense is less vital to a movie's artistic success than creating good and memorable scenes that constitute a powerful experience. Never is this more clear than in Vertigo, a brilliant shitshow with a nonsensically convoluted plot that underpins an aesthetically brilliant piece of cinema. This seems to be every director's favorite movie, and it's not hard to see why: it demonstrates that writing is ultimately less important in a film than directing.

That's not to say the film's bizarre success isn't partly derived from its batshit script. The first half of Vertigo is sensually powerful, appearing to be a quasi-supernatural thriller exploring many of Hitchcock's favorite themes (emasculation by powerful women, fragmentation of identity) as Jimmy Stewart tries to sort his shit out (and of course, casting lovable everyman Jimmy Stewart as this wackjob is brilliant). The second half spirals into insanity even deeper than the character's madness, as Kim Novak struggles to figure out how to carry off this insanely convoluted plan. She does so spectacularly badly, staying in the same hotel room as she did while living her previous life. Vertigo is essentially two films divided by an apparent death. It shouldn't work, but sometimes a glorious shitshow is edifying.