SPIRALS IN VERTIGO

"For me, the cinema is not a slice of life, but a piece of cake. " Alfred Hitchcock

Throughout Vertigo there is a reoccuring motif of Spirals, starting from spirals in the opening credits, to even having spirals on the movie posters. The spiral is the structuring motiff of the film, the key, is the spiral. Like I previouslt said, we see it in the titles, the way the policeman falls, the twist of hair, the tower, the steps, the journey in the car, even the repeated music. The music is endless and consists of cords that are never resolved or melodic.
Why the spiral? The spiral is an unstable alternative to the circle, as if the centre won't hold, suggesting that the film has no centre.

 

VERTIGO

RELEASED: 1958
DIRECTOR: ALFRED HITCHCOCK

LEAD ROLES:  James Stewart and Kim Novak

TYPE OF WORK:  Full-length film

GENRE: Mystery/Suspense

LANGUAGE:  English

PRODCUTION TIME & PLACE ·  1957; Los Angeles

RELAEASE DATE: 1958

SETTING: San Francisco

PROTAGONIST: Scottie Ferguson

MAJOR CONFLICT: Scottie cannot accept the death of Madeleine and struggles to re-create her in another woman who, unbeknownst to him, was behind Madeleine’s death.

RISING ACTION: Scottie gradually descends into madness as he falls in love with Madeleine, loses her to an apparent suicide, and then attempts to recreate her in Judy.

climax · The world of illusion Scottie has created for himself is permanently shattered when he discovers that Judy had duped him by playing the role of Madeleine and faking a suicide as part of a plot to murder the real Madeleine Elster.

falling action ·  In an effort to free himself from the acrophobia and romantic delusions that led him to this point, Scottie drags Judy/Madeleine to the scene of the crime at the top of the bell tower; Judy confesses to the crime and falls to her death when she is startled by the shadowy figure of a nun.

THEMES: Death as both attractive and frightening; the impenetrable nature of appearances; the folly of romantic delusion

MOTIFS: Power and freedom; tunnels and corridors; bouquets of flowers, spirals

SYMBOLS: Sequoia trees; the color green