An intimate portrait of Kim Novak, a fiercely independent Hollywood star who left the spotlight behind to live life on her own terms. Blending personal archives with her unfiltered voice, the film moves between past and present in the wake of Vertigo, unveiling the st...
In the exhibition Hitchcock and Art: Fatal Coincidence, held in 2000 at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the connections, visual suggestions, and references that the English director had – whether consciously or not – scattered throughout his filmography were explored. In Vertigo, particular attention was drawn to the vortex of Judy’s gathered hair as she gazes at the Portrait of Carlotta Valdes: a spiral that alludes both to the protagonist’s dizziness and to the very structure of the narrative. This motif, central to the film, resurfaces in the opening credits designed by the brilliant Saul Bass, himself inspired by the abstractions of Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and August Sander.
Kim Novak captivates and almost hypnotizes the viewer with her striking beauty, embodying a femme fatale suspended between eros and thanatos. Despite the unfortunate spoiler in the Italian title, the enigma persists, and the entire story revolves around her ambiguous figure (Madeleine/Judy), who entraps the enamored John “Scottie” Ferguson, played by a flawless James Stewart. The influence of this masterpiece – steeped in eroticism, noir, and obsession – reaches as far as David Lynch: in Lost Highway it surfaces in Patricia Arquette’s doubling (Renée/Alice), while in Mulholland Drive it reappears through Naomi Watts (Betty/Diane) and Laura Harring (Rita/Camilla).
