The dizzying finale of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Vertigo’
Few scenes in the history of cinema can boast the mastery of framing and perspective on display in the final moments of Vertigo. Director Alfred Hitchcock may have considered the film his masterpiece, and many critics are inclined to agree.
There are numerous scenes in the movie that could each make a cinematic study on their own. For example, in his documentary The Pervert’s Guide to Cinema, cultural theorist Slavoj Žižek chooses to focus on the scene in which the character Judy “becomes” the apparently deceased Madeleine.
She steps out of the bathroom, pulling her hair back from her face as James Stewart’s character Scotty begged for, rendered a ghostlike, almost translucent figure by green neon light.
But Vertigo’s final scene is arguably its most brilliant and surprising, encapsulating the old Hitchcock adage that his pet hate was boredom.
But what happens at the end of Vertigo?
It begins with John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson, played by James Stewart, dragging Judy, the woman he is apparently convinced is a reincarnation of his former lover, up the steps of a bell tower. The bell tower is, in fact, where Madeleine, the woman he thought he was in love with, fell to her death.
As Scottie forces Judy to climb higher and higher up the tower, we are reminded of his chronic vertigo and fear of heights by the iconic and innovative dolly zoom shots which have become the film’s signature. Hitchcock was just getting started, though.
Once Scottie and Judy reach the top of the bell tower, the director moves into a league of his own with a series of magnificent framing shots.
A masterclass in framing shots
First, we see Scottie in the centre of the screen, looking from left to right as he chastises the silhouette of Judy, crying against the wall. Hitchcock often used the left-to-right perspective to convey the natural order of things, particularly in the case of his films’ main characters.
Then, as Judy backs away from Scottie to the ledge of one of the bell tower’s arches, we get a succession of close-ups. Scottie encroaches on the viewer as he aggressively interrogates Judy, and she recedes into the shadows. Suddenly, the roles reverse, and Judy extends into the camera to pour her heart out to Scottie while he recedes and his head is shrouded in the arch’s shadow.
This moment is perhaps Kim Novak’s most memorable in the film, as she brings to the legendary first shot of Grace Kelly in Hitchcock’s previous masterpiece Rear Window. That Novak is able to bring such charisma to the scene is impressive, given that she only joined the cast of Vertigo belatedly when Vera Miles dropped out.
Finally, as Scottie accepts Judy’s embrace, the perspective has switched. We have a side-on shot of the two leads, with Scottie now looking from right to left. He has given in to the lie on which their love is based.
The music begins to swell as they kiss, and we, as the audience, are left with a satisfying ending to the movie. Except it’s not the ending.
The final twist
Judy opens one eye and throws a terrified glance towards us as if she’s been caught in the act. A deathly figure looms out of the darkness from behind the bell in the tower. Judy unlocks herself from Scottie in fear and staggers backwards off the ledge, inadvertently falling from the tower to the same death which had earlier befall Madeleine.
The looming figure is revealed to be a nun from the mission where the tower is based, who came up to identify the voices she’d heard. She prays for God’s mercy and rings the bell as Scottie overlooks the tragedy he has caused.
This turn of events is a deliberate disruption of the classic Hollywood ending by Hitchcock. Initially, he breaks the fourth wall with Novak’s eyes opening to the camera. Then there is the sudden and unexpected entrance of death, first metaphorically and then physically, in a final twist like no other.
It is as though our own judgment as a viewer has shattered Scottie’s illusion of a happy ending and broken the spell Judy/Madeleine had over him. And it’s a reminder of the prevailing inevitability of death overcoming any illusions that Scottie might have had in the continued existence of Madeleine or that cinema makes us believe about our own immortality.
Such an ending was unprecedented in film history back in 1958, and it remains a touchstone for directors today.
Where is the location of Vertigo’s final scene?
Vertigo’s final scene locale really was the place it claims to be in the movie. It was shot at the Mission San Juan Bautista just south of San Francisco, California.
There was no bell tower at the mission, however, as the old one had been demolished by a fire. So Hitchcock had a particularly tall model bell tower built especially for the film, including this final scene.