Review of Vertigo (1958) by Patrick M — 06 May 2012

This is how you make a mystery film. Miraging as a simple supernatural plot, it is eventually revealed to be a more or less perfect murder, done with extreme complexity. This would have all worked had it not been for love, making it one of the strangest but strongest romantic movies I've ever seen.

James Stewart is unbelievably good, playing a retired detective who falls in love and eventually becomes obsessed so that after his love is dead, he won't give her up. He is AMAZING; I argue it as the best performance in the history of film in fact.

This film has a strange, creepy, captivating feel to its first half which set up for the romance and character development in the second half. The look of the film is wonderful, with its inventive camerawork and amazing direction.