Vertigo (BFI Film Classics)
by Charles Barr
List Price:
Our Price: $8.00
You Save: $6.95 (46%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.70 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Charles BarrEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-04-26
ISBN: 0851709184
Number of pages: 88
Publisher: British Film Institute
Book Reviews of Vertigo (BFI Film Classics)
Book Review: Experience Vertigo at New Heights!
Summary: 4 Stars
Although I have always enjoyed the movie Vertigo, it was never on my list of favorite Hitchcock movies, preferring North By Northwest and Rear Window even more. Charles Barr's book VERTIGO may not have changed my opinion but it certainly allows me to understand why someone else would disagree with my personal ranking. The book explores Vertigo on several different levels allowing for a richer appreciation of the movie.
As Barr notes, Vertigo is unlike many other Hitchcock movies in that it is more about the relationship of the characters played by Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak than it is about the criminal plot. In fact, again unusual for Hitchcock movies, the plot twist, the scheme by which murder has been committed, is revealed not at the end of the movie but rather about two-thirds of the way into it. This allows the remaining forty or so minutes to focus on the interactions between the characters. That Novak is playing a dual role and all the characters are working with different levels of knowledge at different times makes this all the more interesting.
One part of VERTIGO that I find fascinating is the theory that Jimmy Stewart actually dies at the beginning of the film after hanging from the rooftop. The viewer never sees him rescued and therefore, so the thought goes, everything that follows (basically the whole movie) takes place in his head while hanging, falling and dying.
Usually I do not go for such metaphysical theories unless there is a solid basis of support. Here there is. Barr introduces the reader to the author Ambrose Bierce who wrote a story using the same plot device. Clues of Bierce's presence are placed throughout the movie and one of the screenwriters made an elliptical, though nonetheless explicit, reference to Bierce with respect to the story. Although this theory of Stewart's death at the beginning of Vertigo may be a minority opinion, it is nonetheless valid and quite interesting.
Film criticism being what it is, Barr throws in a number of phrases that come off as hoity-toity. But I never had the feeling that he was speaking down to the reader. The British Film Institute guides are usually fairly well written and informative and VERTIGO is no exception.
Performing Arts Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Performing Arts Books
The Film Director: Updated for Today's Filmmaker, the Classic, Practical Reference to Motion Picture and Television Techniquesby Richard L. Bare
Wiley; Published: 2000-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.75
Price in other shops:
How Movies Workby Bruce F. Kawin
Allyn & Bacon; Published: 1987-03-13; Hardcover; Book
The Sun Soap Quiz Book: 2,000 Questions on Your Favourite TV Soap Operasby Chris Bradshaw
HarperCollins UK; Published: 2008-05-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.99
Price in other shops:
Make Your Own Adult Video: The Couple's Guide to Making Sensual Home Moviesby Petra Joy
Collins; Published: 2007-01-03; Paperback; Book
Blessings in Disguiseby Alec Guinness
Fontana; Published: 1986; Paperback; Book
Irish Dancing (Collins Pocket Reference)by Tom Quinn
Harpercollins Pub Ltd; Published: 1998-11; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
Harmonyby Heinrich Schenker
University Of Chicago Press; Published: 1980-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $33.64
Price in other shops:
A Practical Guide to Stage Lighting, Second Editionby Steven Louis Shelley
Focal Press; Published: 2009-10-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $38.82
Price in other shops:
The Theater Experienceby Edwin Wilson
Mcgraw-Hill College; Published: 1994-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $24.94
Price in other shops:
Bill Hicksby Kevin Booth
Harpercollins Entertainment; Published: 2005-03-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $40.00
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Far From Heaven (Bfi Film Classics)by John Gill
British Film Institute; Published: 2011-06-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.76
Price in other shops:
Sweet Smell of Success (BFI Film Classics)by James Naremore
British Film Institute; Published: 2010-07-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.57
Price in other shops:
Citizen Kane (BFI Film Classics)by Laura Mulvey
British Film Institute; Published: 1992; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.93
Price in other shops:
Double Indemnity (BFI Film Classics)by Richard Schickel
British Film Institute; Published: 1992-10-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.64
Price in other shops:
Taxi Driver (BFI Film Classics)by Amy Taubin
British Film Institute; Published: 2000-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
The Godfather (Bfi Film Classics)by Jon Lewis
British Film Institute; Published: 2010-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.88
Price in other shops:
2001: A Space Odyssey (Bfi Film Classics)by Peter Kramer
British Film Institute; Published: 2010-08-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.63
Price in other shops:
Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage (Harvard Film Studies)by Stanley Cavell
Harvard University Press; Published: 1984-01-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.00
Price in other shops:
Hitchcock's Films Revisitedby Robin Wood
Columbia University Press; Published: 2002-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.55
Price in other shops:
The Birds (BFI Film Classics)by Camille Paglia
British Film Institute; Published: 1998-08-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.44
Price in other shops: