HITCHCOCK’S VERTIGO

CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES

MARXISM

CRITICAL APPROACHES TO VERTIGO

• FILM FORM• Aesthetics and the way the film is created

• Auteur Theory - Hitchcock’s artistic influence on the film as a demonstration of the director’s visionary genius

• SUBJECTIFICATION / OBJECTIFICATION OF WOMEN

• feminist theory

• psychoanalytical theory

What is Marxism?

• The political and economic philosophy of Karl Marx andFriedrich Engels

• the concept of class struggle plays a central role

• inevitable development of Society from bourgeoisoppression under capitalism to a socialist and ultimately

classless society.

http://www.answers.com/topic/marxism

Cultural Marxism

• Marxist analysis/ critique of the role of themedia, art, theatre, film and other culturalinstitutions in a society

• Emphasis on race and gender in addition to class.

• Consideration of cultural products ascommodities within a Capitalist system

• A form of political analysis

What is a Marxist Critique?

• Views cultural products as reflections of the social institutions out ofwhich they are born.

• Film itself is a social institution and has a specific ideological function,based on the background and ideology of the studio / producer / director.

• A film arises out of the economic and ideological circumstancessurrounding its creation. It is a commercial industry.

• Marxist critiques analyse texts in relation to their relevance regardingissues of:– class struggle– the position of characters to the dominant class.

• Films often mirror the creator's own place in society

Why apply a Marxist critique? 1. commercial context

Wexman, Virginia. “The Critic as Consumer: Film Study in the University, ‘Vertigo’, and the Film Canon.”

Film Quarterly Spring 1986, 32-41

• critical response to Vertigo has ignored the commercial aspects of the film. • Vertigo was made solely for commercial success & had Studio support with

Paramount ( & then Universal)• Hitchcock exploited the “star system” - James Stewart /Kim Novak.

– He chose cast before the script had been written. – Hitchcock knew that Kim Novak could be employed as a romantic idol and

utilized profile shots to capitalize on her looks.

• Wexman argues Hitchcock increased the film’s commercial appeal through use of extravagant settings. Viewers of Vertigo are treated as tourists as they are taken on a journey to all of San Francisco’s famous sites.

Why apply a Marxist critique? 2. Class, Race, Gender

• Themes of psychological and personal obsession

• Closely tied up with references to representations of class, gender and race

• Obsessional downfall of Scottie (class), Madeline & Judy (gender) and Carlotta (race) can all be linked to these representations

• Offers an alternative reading of the film and an understanding of the socio-historical context of the film’s production

What examples from the text invite a Marxist critique?

AREA OF STUDY EXAMPLE (S) FROM FILM

COMMERICAL COMMODITY

CLASS

GENDER

RACE