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Loading... Vertigo [BFI Film Classics]by Charles Barr
![]() None No current Talk conversations about this book. ![]() ![]() One of the great things about the BFI series is that contributing authors each approach their works from different schools of criticism. While Charles Barr does go into the historical and collaborative efforts behind the film Vertigo - including debates on the contributions of the multiple writers involved - but the majority of Charles Barr's analysis focuses on textual deconstructionism, as he examines Hitchcock's film frame by frame, shot by shot, delving not only into what individual images or sequences communicate to the audience, but also how removing the tacked-on ending or the expository middle sequence that Hitchcock tried to remove alter the narrative and it's influence on the audience's emotional investment in the film. While Barr's methodical breakdown of screen time dedicated to silence or POV shots - complete with charts - might come off as needlessly ponderous, the book as a whole provides great insight into one of Hitchcock's most beloved and studied films. Yet another indispensable BFI Film Classics volume. no reviews | add a review
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Vertigo (1958) is widely regarded as not only one of Hitchcock's best films, but one of the greatest films of world cinema. Made at the time when the old studio system was breaking up, it functions both as an embodiment of the supremely seductive visual pleasures that 'classical Hollywood' could offer and - with the help of an elaborate plot twist - as a laying bare of their dangerous dark side. The film's core is a study in romantic obsession, as James Stewart's Scottie pursues Madeleine/Judy (Kim Novak) to her death in a remote Californian mission. Novak is ice cool but vulnerable, Stewart - in the darkest role of his career - genial on the surface but damaged within. Although it can be seen as Hitchcock's most personal film, Charles Barr argues that, like Citizen Kane, Vertigo is at the same time a triumph not so much of individual authorship as of creative collaboration. He highlights the crucial role of screenwriters Alec Coppel and Samuel Taylor and, by a combination of textual and contextual analysis, explores the reasons why Vertigo continues to inspire such fascination. In his foreword to this special edition, published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the BFI Film Classics series, Barr looks afresh at Vertigo alongside the recently-rediscovered 'lost' silent The White Shadow (1924), scripted by Hitchcock, which also features the trope of the double, and at the acclaimed contemporary silent film The Artist (2011), which pays explicit homage to Vertigo in its soundtrack. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)791.4372The arts Recreational and performing arts Public performances Film, Radio, and Television Film Films, screenplays Single filmsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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