The Downward Spiral. Repetition in Hitchcock's Vertigo

Seminar paper from the year 2011 in the subject Film Science grade: 15 University of Innsbruck (Amerikanistik) course: Memory in Film and Literature language: English abstract: It is hard to determine the one single defining factor that makes Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo what it is today: by many considered to be one of the best movies ever made. The plot is - despite all its unrealism - thrilling from the first minute to the last. James Stewart's and Kim Novak's performances are more than convincing to say the least and Bernard Herrmann's music dug itself into the collective ears of a whole generation. However there is one thing that all those factors have in common and which therefore arguably defines the power of Vertigo most accurately: in a way all those features suck the viewers into the movie and take them on a spiral-like journey down to the bottom of Vertigo. This becomes apparent from the first minute onwards when Hitchcock establishes the spiral as the defining motif of his movie during the intro-sequence. In this paper I am going to argue that the whole movie follows a spiral-like structure and through repetition of certain motifs Hitchcock is able to suck the viewer deeper and deeper into the story of Vertigo.