The film Vertigo can be considered as a masterpiece, and part of Hitchcock's best work. The film itself is full of hidden meanings, metaphors and theories.
Throughout the film, recurring motifs such as the spiral and colour are used. The spiral literally can be seen all the way through the film through the visuals in the opening sequence. These are significant to the protagonist Scottie and his newly diagnosed vertigo. The opening sequence with images of the spiral and a woman's face which turns red foreshadows the danger in the film and visualizes Scottie's state of mind whilst suffering with vertigo.
The use of the spiral which is consistently shown during the film through simplistic things such as; the roads in which Scottie drives down through the pursuit scenes, Madeleine and Carlotta Valdes' hair, and finally the stairs of the bell tower, are used to replicate Scotty's obsession and the obvious sense of danger and fear. Along with the use of spiralling music Scotty's love and obsession with Madeleine and fear of vertigo is mimicked.
The recurring motif of colour is used throughout Vertigo. The colours red and green are predominantly shown and are important. The colour green is used for Madeleine's car, Scottie's clothes and the green light and fog in which Judy/Madeleine steps out of in front of Scottie near the end of the film. This use of the colour green can be viewed to signify the ghostly element of the narrative.
The use of the colour red can be seen in the opening sequence of a woman's face, Madeleine's dress, Madeleine's lipstick, the fire at Scottie's house, Ernie's and Carlotta Valdes' necklace. The use of the colour red throughout the film symbolizes the passion and love Scottie has for Madeleine, and also foreshadows the danger ahead of him. The first scene where Scottie sees Madeleine is in Ernie's; the walls are bright red which employs his immediate sense of passion and longing for Madeleine again with the element of danger.
There are theories that Hitchcock explored and interpreted through all of his films, each of these refer to psychoanalytic theories of Freud. The theories Hitchcock explored include scopophilia, castration and the Oedipus complex. The idea of scopophilia is important throughout Vertigo. It is shown through the protagonist Scotty, following Madeleine all the way through Vertigo and his obsession as this increases the further on we get in the film. This obsession relates to his emasculated state, as he uses Madeleine as a means to regain control and therefore regain masculinity.
Therefore, all of this is evidence which points to the idea that Vertigo is a film with a deep meaning and is significant to the whole essence of film making.
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