Homework Movie - Vertigo

When your old friend asks you to watch his wife to find out where she's going, you know something's going to end up all wrong. Such is the case for detective John "Scotty" Ferguson played by James Stewart in Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock in 1958. I've had such a hard time following the muddled plot to this movie, now matter how many times I've watched it, it still takes too long to get the point across why Galvin Elster has his friend watch his wife to observe her behaviors. Is it a plot to rid Ferguson of his Vertigo issues? Does Galvin's wife really die?

Making a duel appearance is Kim Novak as Madeleine Elster, the wife of Ferguson's friend and then later as Judy the plant that looks exactly like Madeleine. In the climax of the film I was not sure if it was Madeleine or Judy that threw herself off the bell tower. No matter who it was, it sure made an impression on Mr. Ferguson, as he was completely infatuated with her looks, despite having to figure out which woman she is.

His quest was doomed from the beginning as his friend knew his condition would impair his ability to travel to anywhere with heights. On top of that, his relationship with his best friend and former fiancé was more than enough female interaction he should have needed, however his attraction to Mrs. Elster led her to her ultimate demise.

I've enjoyed more of Alfred Hitchcock's movies, but for some reason this doomed man story just doesn't hold up like the others. As for the other clips we watched in class, I was more interested in how the doomed character was involved with artistic choices in The Big Knife than Stewart's obsession with someone

Homework Movie - David Lynch's Wild at Heart

At film school there is a standard to which our movies are judged. For directing, David Lynch is supposed to be a high standard for artistic movies with avant garde tones. I for one have a very hard time stomaching his films in general. Not for any grotesque notion, but because there's always an element of, "Here, since there's an old woman nearby, let's have her stand close to camera and wave her hands across the screen" feel to the movies. Adding elements that are nearby to the shots because he wants you to look at the film as an artist, feels pushed to me.

Looking for set photos for this movie, I came up with two shots of Isabella Rossellini and none for Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, who are the main actors because half the movie the two main actors were naked. It seemed there was a sex scene about every five to ten minutes and not much else happening. Sure there was traveling from city to city, and the main characters were being chased by several different groups of individuals, but it didn't hold the story together enough for me to want to care about anyone. It was set up as a tragic love story where the mother of Laura Dern's character didn't want them together because she didn't like Nicolas Cage's character, but that was even flimsy because I think she wanted to be with Cage at one point in the movie somewhere.

From start to finish, I examined this film with an open mind to see if maybe this movie would be like Lynch's "A Straight Story", but with no success. That rare moment didn't happen here where the story was cohesive and simple. Lynch saved that for his one Disney movie that I actually like. Yes, Lynch directed a movie for Disney at one point!

Among the other Fatal Love genre movies we watched this week, Wild at Heart ranks in as my least favorite, hands down. Movie greats such as Bonnie & Clyde are a much more solid narrative story that holds my attention at least. The characters are seperated for a time, they want to be together, and when they do, bad things begin to happen around them until their tragic demise. It's straight forward and yet still delivers a punch at the end.