Vertigo - External Quotes

Quotes for Vertigo

‘The desire to fall and the dread of falling – an idea it is worth bearing in mind in relation to the whole film.’

‘To live he must hold on desperately to the gutter,’

‘To die he has only to let go.’

‘We do not see, and are never told, how he got down from the gutter’

‘The effect is of having him, throughout the whole film, metaphorically suspended over great abyss.’

This quote comments on the idea that Scottie is effectively hanging from the gutter the whole film – in that the film takes place is in his mind, further connoting the idea that the film is in fact Hitch's repressed world out look. In effect, Vertigo is effectively Hitchcock's masterpiece, one which contributes the most to why Hitchcock's is an auteur. Hitchcock manipulates us to view the world of the story from Scottie's view, thus everything we see could be seen as Hitchcock's inner desires and fears projected into cinema. The themes in Vertigo can be seen throughout Hitchcock's oeuvre, such as the punishment of women, and the look of the perfect woman.
We do not in fact see how Scottie gets down from the gutter, which suggests that he is in fact still hanging from the building or has in fact fell. This coincides with the idea that he is on a falling downwards spiral of obsession the whole film, as the narrative moves uncontrollably. This comment, does in fact suggest everything we see is a depiction of events in the mind of Scottie, a story in which he tries to reclaim his masculinity.