Vertigo

Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo plays very well on the title itself. by definition Vertigo means, a dizzying sensation of tilting within stable surroundings or of being in tilting or spinning surroundings. You see this with the camera work and Hitchcock's editing when detective Ferguson at the end of the film is trying to climb the stairs and he looks down at every level and the room starts spinning. His fear of heights is setup in the beginning of the film when he is chasing a criminal and watches his fellow officer fall off a building and die while he dangled on the edge of the roof. Ferguson suffers from acrophobia and even when he was in Midge's apartment stepping on the ladder. He walked up up one level and was ok but as soon as he got to the top the room began spinning and you could see the worry in his eye and then he collapses into Midge's arms. He also plays on the sense of vertigo psychologically to keep the movie moving along showing the struggle the detective deals with everyday sending the audience into a dizzy spell as well. For example, going back and forth with Madeline being Midge after Midge dies and the painting Madeline did of herself with Midge's body. It just sends the audience into a sense of dizziness much like the term vertigo. The director does a very good job at playing with the characters. The film turned out to be psychological chaos for both the characters and the viewer.