Movie Analysis : Vertigo ( 1958 ) Film Analysis

In the article ‘Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway?’, Rosenhan’s reason for research was because Rosenhan doubted whether the characteristics that lead to psychological diagnoses reside in the patients themselves or in the situations and contexts in which the observers find the patients. The hypothesis generated by Rosenhan was, that the staff will recognize the sanity of the patients, question their diagnosis and follow to release them. The objective was to observe whether personal or environmental factors dictate mental health diagnosis and professional treatment. Rosenhan recruited eight subjects which consisted of three women and five men, one graduate student, three psychologists, one pediatrician, one psychiatrist, one painter, and one homemaker.

Q.1. What do you think is the main messages this movie is trying to deliver?

8) What is the tone or feeling of the film and what is its impact?

The 1950s were defined by security, social advancement, and social change, in the home and racial fronts. Speakers such as Joseph McCarthy drew out the remains of the Red Scare, and controversy influenced the public over the American dream and how the Cold War had changed it. The 1950s were an era of social conformity, proven by the suburban middle-class lifestyle and threat of wartime possibilities.

4. What was the point of the movie? (ex: a political statement, a moral idea, reflections on society)

Although tender and caring, John played a significant role in causing the narrator’s descent into ‘madness’. By taking on the role of a physician and a husband, John symbolises the stronghold power men had over women in the past. Instead of respecting his wife’s request for some form of mental stimulation, John insists that she takes on the ‘rest’ treatment. The treatment only focuses on the physical condition of the patient, and not the emotional or mental

A lot can happen in sixty years, and America is no exception to that statement. It is arguable that one of the biggest differences regarding America in the 1950s to modern America is culture. The movie “Pleasantville” reflects much of these cultural differences from 1950s to today in a creative and thoughtful way. It also provides much useful insight into the cultural conflicts America faced throughout the 1950s. The many differences between 1950s culture and modern day culture, my own opinion which time period I would personally choose to live in and cultural conflicts of the 1950s will be discussed throughout this essay.

A thriller is a type of film that usually instills excitement and suspense into the audience. A thriller is commonly described as a tense edge of the seat environment. The movie, Vertigo, is one of the most famous thrillers ever made. However, Vertigo does not fit into the stereotypical genre of thriller. Vertigo, often viewed as an experimental film because it was one of the first major thrillers of that time that used many different and innovative camera techniques. These techniques used in this film are different types of lighting, montage, intense music, etc. Vertigo is known to be one of Hitchcock’s best movies because of his unique sense of style and his famous

John is described as “practical in the extreme” (Gilman 1892, p1) a very rational person who calculates everything before he does it. He does not give in to feelings or emotions and is therefore is unwilling to listen to his wife, when she tries to voice her concerns over her health. She is suffering from depression after the birth of her child and John refuses to believe her when she says she is sick. John, describes his wife’s condition as “temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency” (Gilman 1892, p. 2).

1. What are the main themes, politically and socially, that are portrayed in the film?

The dangerous and suicidal patients were tied together with ropes to help isolate them from the rest (ch. 14). The nurses were very obnoxious and abusive. For example, they would tell the patients to shut up and that they would beat them if they talked (Bly, ch. 12). Throughout Bly’s experience she talked with other patients, which convinced her that some were as sane as she was. Ultimately, society could not determine who was actually insane or sane due to their lack of knowledge on mental illnesses.

With the overwhelming amount of Levittown houses, the obsession to obtain the perfect American “ideal family” as seen on TV and the unspoken agreement to fear any and all foreign ideas and values, the 1950s were revealed to be a decade of prosperity, conformity and consensus. Just ten years later the atmosphere in America was shockingly different; the 1960s were a decade of turbulence, protest and disillusionment due to the ongoing struggle for civil rights, arising feminism, and the Vietnam War.

During this research I learned that many of Ms. Taylor films of the 50’s 60’s were clearly trying to send out a message of how the popular mass was eager to hear and in the 60’s people were ready to act in order to bring about change. The new baby boomers were ready to set the world on light speed and change our society at ultra accelerated speed.

The parallels between the theme of the film and rising fears of communism and related topics of concern during that time are captivating. Communism was an ideology originating in the Soviet Union with the ideas of establishing a

Hitchcock makes use of a number of techniques in Vertigo and brings them together to make a film that is considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces. Through the use of colour, lighting, camera movement, dialogue and characterisation, Hitchcock produces a film that fascinates and intrigues us.