‘Vertigo’ as a film concert

Scottie’s (James Stewart) vertigo is the very condition that, following the tragic death of a colleague, prevents him from carrying out his duties as a police officer. It is also the vertigo that grips him when he gazes at the lock of blonde hair curling down the nape of the mysterious and fascinating Madeleine’s (Kim Novak) neck. From the very first moments of Saul Bass’s iconic opening credits, Hitchcock weaves his web and draws us into a hypnotic thriller, with a meticulously crafted screenplay (inspired by Boileau and Narcejac), breathtakingly beautiful scenes (thanks to a sumptuous 1996 restoration) and a landmark innovation, the famous ‘dolly zoom’ by cinematographer Irmin Roberts (who invented cinematic vertigo). We are plunged into Scottie’s psyche, we burn with his desire, we tremble with his terrors, we thrill at his talent as an investigator. Never has Bernard Herrmann’s music achieved such perfect harmony with ‘Hitch’s’ images, such perfection in its chilling and haunting quality. Here, Hitchcock demonstrates absolute control over every aspect of the film, creating what many admirers consider to be his greatest film.

Programme
Vertigo by Alfred Hitchcock [Vertigo] – USA, 1958, colour, original version with French subtitles / based on *D’entre les morts* by Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac / starring James Stewart, Kim Novak and Barbara Bel Geddes
Music by Bernard Herrmann

Lyon National Orchestra
Conducted by Ernst van Tiel

In partnership with the Institut Lumière