Deviation from Genre in Hitchcock’s Movie, Vertigo

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Deviation from Genre in Hitchcock’s Movie, Vertigo

When a director achieves great success, as Hitchcock did, he is able to follow a formula, much like a genre does, for future success. Further, a successful director is able to do a genre movie but place his own personal touch on it; in doing so, he ignores the formula that has thus far brought the genre so much success. Knighted as the “Master of Suspense,” Hitchcock was well known for his witty dialogue and genius plot twists. But Hitchcock’s true mastery came through in his ability to enshroud one story within another.

In Vertigo, Hitchcock reveals the twist, that an imposter was hired so that the real Madeleine could be murdered, halfway through the film. The bold tactic breaks the formulaic structure we expect from a murder mystery, in which solutions always come at the end. It risks unsettling the viewer, particularly on an initial viewing of the film. However, by dispensing with formula, Hitchcock shifts the emphasis of the story from murder to character, a potentially deeper subject than the typical whodunit conundrum.

It is after this revelation that Hitchcock’s true movie shines through. The mystery is solved for the audience, but James Stewart’s character “Scotty” is still haunted by the memory of his possessed love. His possession takes him so far that he attempts to remake a woman (Judy) that reminds him of his beloved Madeleine into the actual woman. With the movie now a “love” story, Hitchcock was able to elude yet another genre. His twisted approach on a relationship based on obsession with a dead woman garners pity for both Judy, who is something of an accomplice to the murder of the real Madeleine, and for Scotty, who actually fell in love with the woman he is trying to make into a woman he never met. And so Hitchcock is able to pose a stunning question: Did Scotty fall in love with Judy or her impression of Madeleine? This answer is impossible to know, with Scotty never having met the real Madeleine or getting the chance to know Judy for who she is because she ironically falls to her death just as Madeleine did.

It is the very departure from genre that may warrant the success of a film. Perhaps the formula has been done too many times, leaving the audience unfulfilled, or the very topic no longer holds any interest.

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