The representation in Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' begins from the moment the film commences. The opening titles begin with an extreme close up of a woman's lips, showing her wearing lipstick, the next frame is an extreme close up of her eyes, which dart side to side nervously. This could reflect the vulnerability of women in Hitchcock's opinion and how they need men to protect them.
The first woman we see once the film itself begins is Midge. A young, pretty woman with blond hair, sitting and drawing. The fact that she is seen as drawing could be seen as showing a male view of women being less academic than men and only being talented in topics such as art, cooking and music.
Midge is seen as a sympathetic figure towards 'Scottie', suggesting things for him to do and fussing over him in a rather motherly fashion as she comments how he is a 'big boy now' and asks of matters such as his health. This could again be another interpretation of how men might traditionally like women to act towards them, sticking to the conventional roles of caring and nursing whilst the man retains the power over the two. In this scene we see Midge's focus on care and seeing that Scottie is working on his vertigo to get back to good health whilst Scottie himself is too keen on this but also very much focused on his 'independance' and being his own man.
Later in the same scene we do see something which could be seen as a slight role-reversal as Scottie faints onto Midge after his vertigo sets in again. As he falls onto Midge we see her holding him as he is suddenly looking vulnerable and the less powerful of the two. It could also be merely seen as an extention of Midge's motherly and caring side as she holds him once he has fainted.
Later on we also see Gavin Elster having Scottie agree to follow his wife to find out where she goes and what she does. This demonstrates the man being controlling and showing his power within the relationship of the two. As the woman is acting alone and independantly it could be seen as her exercising her independance and building her own power- something which her husband may not like. It could also show how women could see man's protectiveness over them and control as an interpretation of love and adoration instead of power.
The music in Vertigo also builds a strong feeling of the relationship between men and woman, especially in a romantic sense as Scottie is following Gavin's wife. The music builds up a sense of both facination and romance between the characters as their eyes meet and they seem to brush past each other not quite meeting, but always coming close.
Director Martin Scorese commented on the score and commented:
'Hitchcock's film is about obsession, which means that it's about circling back to the same moment, again and again ... And the music is also built around spirals and circles, fulfilment and despair. Herrmann really understood what Hitchcock was going for — he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession.'
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