Vertigo (Philosophers on Film)

Released in 1958, Vertigo is widely regarded as Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece and one of the greatest films of all time. This is the first book devoted to exploring the philosophical aspects of Vertigo. Following an introduction by the editor that places the film in context, each chapter reflects upon Hitchcock’s film from a philosophical perspective. Topics discussed include:

• memory, loss, memorialisation, and creativity
• mimetic or representational art and art as magic
• the nature of romantic love
• gender, sexual objectification, and identity
• looking, "the gaze", and voyeurism
• film and psychoanalysis
• fantasy, illusion, and reality
• the phenomenology of colour.

Including annotated further reading at the end of each chapter, this collection is essential reading for anyone interested in Vertigo, and an ideal resource for students of film and philosophy.

Katalin Makkai is Junior Professor of Philosophy at ECLA of Bard, Berlin (Germany). She is the author of "Kant on Recognizing Beauty," which appeared in European Journal of Philosophy.