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Vertigo (1958) Synopsis

Warning: Spoilers Below

America, 1958.   Recovering from a traumatic episode linked to his vertigo which resulted in a police officer losing his life, detective John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson accepts an assignment from Gavin Elster, an old college friend, whose wife’s state of mind is concerning him.   Although sceptical of Elster’s descriptions of his wife Madeleine’s behaviour, Scottie accepts the assignment and begins trailing her around San Francisco.  It becomes clear that she is obsessed with Carlotta Valdes, a woman that, Elster tells Scottie, Madeleine doesn’t know is her own great-Grandmother.   Scottie saves Madeleine’s life when she jumps into San Francisco bay.   A relationship develops between the two as Madeleine begins to reveal more about her vague memories of another life and of dreams about a bell tower and garden.   Scottie recognises the location as one he had previously followed Madeleine to, and takes her there.   In the mission stable, Madeleine kisses Scottie and they declare their love for each other before she unaccountably runs to the top of the bell tower and throws herself to her death.   Paralysed by his vertigo, Scottie is unable to save her.   After recovering from a mental breakdown, Scottie meets Judy Barton, who is the spitting image of Madeleine.  Unbeknownst to Scottie, Madeleine was involved in a plot with Elster to fool him into believing –and testifying – that the real Madeleine committed suicide while mentally unbalanced.   A relationship develops between Scottie and Judy in which Scottie develops an unhealthy obsession with transforming Judy into the image of Madeleine.   The relationship comes to an abrupt end when Scottie discovers he has been duped and, as he overcomes his vertigo to piece together the final pieces of the puzzle, Judy meets a fate ironically similar to the one suffered by Madeleine.

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