Topic: Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection Reviews

[addicted2dvd]

I definitely enjoyed Rope and Rear Window... but I wasn't able to get into Vertigo when I watched it on cable a while back.

[snowcat]

I think once you get past the first part and get into the real story it gets alot easier

[addicted2dvd]

Oh I watched the entire movie last time... I just couldn't get into it.

[Najemikon]

I think saying you have to "get past" the first part rather dilutes what is one of the greatest films ever made. It is simply a story that benefits from being watched at least twice.

I've always thought of it as a typical film noir until half way through and then it deals with Stewart's obsession. It's almost two films in one.

You should re-watch Shadow again sometime in the future, it's definitely better than the two other films you've watched.

This and North By Northwest seem to be rather misunderstood on this forum! Hopefully with time the errors will be corrected.

[snowcat]

I think saying you have to "get past" the first part rather dilutes what is one of the greatest films ever made. It is simply a story that benefits from being watched at least twice.

I've always thought of it as a typical film noir until half way through and then it deals with Stewart's obsession. It's almost two films in one.

...Be honest Jon... it does feel a bit like 3 films in one. But I still love it.
 

[Najemikon]

Nope. I am being honest, thank you! And it is paced to perfection. I think it's Hitchcock's finest film and therefore about as good as film as an art can get.

[Najemikon]

Nope. I am being honest, thank you! And it is paced to perfection. I think it's Hitchcock's finest film and therefore about as good as film as an art can get.

[snowcat]

Good pacing? really? I found it very slow in places. I enjoyed it none the less, I like the characters and I like the idea. But for me it was a bit slow and broken in places.

[Najemikon]

"slow and broken"?  No, really not. What an absurd notion!

Hitchcock didn't make Noirs, but that's exactly what the essence of Vertigo is and he slavishly follows the genres convention for the first half. What you might see as slow, I see as him preparing to undermine expectation by running in second gear and following the rules of typical thrillers of the time, before it becomes a true Hitchcock film during the superb hotel room sequence.

He was famous for his meticulous preparation (no-one used storyboards before him), so you should accept what you see as by design, not accident (ie, broken) and then springboard from there to consider why it's like that. There are several great films which use a similar method of aping another genre to force the viewer into a certain perception.

It might sound like I'm making an excuse for Vertigo, but I'm not. And I'm not saying he's perfect and beyond mistakes, because he certainly did a bunch of mediocre movies and even a bad one or two, but when you consider why and when Vertigo was made and its influence since, you find the director at the top of his game. If he didn't get Vertigo right, you might as well write him off as a second-rater... 

[Antares]

This and North By Northwest seem to be rather misunderstood on this forum! Hopefully with time the errors will be corrected.

Yeah, I don't get it. You know that I'm not a big Hitchcock fan, but they are probably his two best films.

[Dragonfire]

I enjoyed Vertigo more the second time I watched it all the way through.  I may not have been in the right mood when I watched it the first time.

[snowcat]

"slow and broken"?  No, really not. What an absurd notion!

Hitchcock didn't make Noirs, but that's exactly what the essence of Vertigo is and he slavishly follows the genres convention for the first half. What you might see as slow, I see as him preparing to undermine expectation by running in second gear and following the rules of typical thrillers of the time, before it becomes a true Hitchcock film during the superb hotel room sequence.

He was famous for his meticulous preparation (no-one used storyboards before him), so you should accept what you see as by design, not accident (ie, broken) and then springboard from there to consider why it's like that. There are several great films which use a similar method of aping another genre to force the viewer into a certain perception.

It might sound like I'm making an excuse for Vertigo, but I'm not. And I'm not saying he's perfect and beyond mistakes, because he certainly did a bunch of mediocre movies and even a bad one or two, but when you consider why and when Vertigo was made and its influence since, you find the director at the top of his game. If he didn't get Vertigo right, you might as well write him off as a second-rater... 

...Well, in my opinion its still slow and broken in places Jon. Im sorry but 

[Najemikon]

...Well, in my opinion its still slow and broken in places Jon. Im sorry but 

I don't want to take over Pete's thread, but... examples? 

[snowcat]

The fact that it feels to me like three different stories making it pretty choppy, I think the beginning is very slow to. Im not denying its a good film I like it one of my all time favourite songs is about the film but it just doesn't feel right sometimes.