Walter Kittel
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Dec 28, 1998
- Messages
- 9,809
Re: the question of what sets apart Vertigo from Chinatown.
For myself, I associate Vertigo with Hitchcock due to his unique gifts as a filmmaker moreso than I do with any particular style of film ( Hitchcock as a genre ). While psychological elements may be associated with noir, Vertigo has such a unique tone that it stands apart from the more traditional films of the noir canon.
Chinatown is perhaps the strongest neo-noir ever made ( I am in the noir as movement camp ) but it is also a much closer fit to the traditional noir particularly in terms of its examination of corruption, and its world-weary, cynical protagonist.
Of the two films I personally prefer Chinatown; but I believe that Vertigo, due primarily to Hitchcock is a much more unique film and consequently that makes it stand apart from the excellent, but more genre oriented Chinatown.
- Walter.
For myself, I associate Vertigo with Hitchcock due to his unique gifts as a filmmaker moreso than I do with any particular style of film ( Hitchcock as a genre ). While psychological elements may be associated with noir, Vertigo has such a unique tone that it stands apart from the more traditional films of the noir canon.
Chinatown is perhaps the strongest neo-noir ever made ( I am in the noir as movement camp ) but it is also a much closer fit to the traditional noir particularly in terms of its examination of corruption, and its world-weary, cynical protagonist.
Of the two films I personally prefer Chinatown; but I believe that Vertigo, due primarily to Hitchcock is a much more unique film and consequently that makes it stand apart from the excellent, but more genre oriented Chinatown.
- Walter.