The document discusses Alfred Hitchcock's film Vertigo and provides analysis of key scenes and themes. It examines how the film depicts obsession and spirals through its music and plot. It also offers a psychoanalytic interpretation of the film from Donald Spoto's perspective. Finally, it prompts the reader to analyze the opening sequence and introduces various elements to look for, including characters, locations, themes, and visual style.

1. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010

2. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
Film Stues
"Hitchcock's film is about obsession, which means that
it's about circling back to the same moment, again and
again ... And the music is also built around spirals
and circles, fulfilment and despair. Herrmann really
understood what Hitchcock was going for — he wanted
to penetrate to the heart of obsession."

3. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
Psycho-biography
offered by Donald Spoto (The Dark Side of Genius).
extract key points

4. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010

5. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010

6. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010

7. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
Watch the opening sequence and take notes on how it introduces the
viewer to all or some of the following elements:
Characters
Locations
Narrative/Plot
Themes
Visual style
Genre
UNSTABLE IDENITITY BERNARD HERMANN SUSPENSE
SAUL BASS FETISHISM PSYCHOLOGICAL
ACROPHOBIA REPETITION & OBSESSION DISEMPOWERMENT

8. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
Authorship -identifying visible signs of authorship using model. http://tiny.cc/p0gex

9. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
events that are directly
the viewers presented in the film.
construct this
story vs plot
fabula vs syuzhet
all the audience
sequence of images
infers about the
presented to the viewer.
events

10. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
fabula (unseen events)
Syuzhet (presented to us)

11. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
gratification gained from
voyeursim sexual attraction to corpses
pain, deprivation,
degradation, etc., inflicted or
imposed on oneself, either as
a result of one's own actions uncanny
or the actions of others a morbid fear of great heights
scopophilia
masochism deriving pleasure from looking
The familiar becomes e.g cinema audience
unfamiliar/weird and
threatening. This is related
to childhood castration necrophilia
anxiety. This stems from the
work of Freud hatred (or contempt) of women
misogyny
acrophobia satisfaction by watching
Erotic attachment to people secretly,
objects or body parts
fetishistic

12. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010

13. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
TASK
Look at the summary points taken from
Mulvey's article.
THINK
PAIR
SHARE

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15. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010

16. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
ʻMale Gazeʼ
Overall way that cinema objectifies women
When you watch a film you are watching it from a male perspective
If the camera is male then the female members of the audience must
adopt a male viewpoint
Film language Fetishises images of women
(making them seem sexual through the use of close ups which were
sexually suggestive).

17. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010

18. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
quick quiz
plot/story
uncanny
3 motifs
3 things Mulvey says

19. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
Who says what
Wood POV split between Judy & Scottie.
Woman punished for threatening to be real.
Mulvey Criticises Judy for being passive whereas he is controlling
Waxman Mulvey doesn't take into account subtleties. Actresses
controlled by industry.
Keane criticises Mulvey - camera not male, voyeurism is passive
Modleski masculine identity in crisis and self annihilation
Rothman Judy can only be beautiful/perfect if she becomes
someone else (someone who isn't real)
Palombo Scottie's dependence on mother-figure

20. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
Who says what?
In pairs take it in turns to find a point, discuss it
and extract the MAIN POINT.
Your opinion counts!
CONCLUSION

21. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
Modleski
'The Women Who Knew Too Much'
Argues against Mulvey - not as simple as the spectator
identifying with the male
Film is fascinated with femininity (opening up a space for the
female spectator)
Before the flashback our identification with Scottie is
problematic.
transformation
preoccupation with female clothing
Scotties' intimate knowledge of women's clothing
brassiere
"principle of the cantilever bridge" passive Scottie
femininity = lack of freedom
femininity = male construct/design

22. vertigo lesson 2010 October 16, 2010
destroys masculine Nightmare scene
First kiss identity
possession
beheaded face =
castration
"I've got you now" dies Madeline's death
plunged into
feminine world
Modleski Much'
'The Women Who Knew Too
Scottie has been used
Final bell tower scene
"rehearsed.....trained"
victim of a man