by Skarlove

This is the beginning of Vertigo – Part II. It could almost be two entirely separate films; the departure of the original Ferguson is so marked. It is here I see another major Bill Compton correlation. What Lorena did to the depraved Mr. Compton surely robbed him of his humanity. But he has made the choice repeatedly since his rebirth as a vampire to cling to his past, and as Vertigo – Part II illustrates……..it won’t end well for him.

After Madeleine’s death, we see Ferguson follow her ghost across San Francisco, wallowing in self-pity and hatred until he winds up in an insane asylum. The ever-faithful Midge comes to see him, hoping that her sarcastic brand of cheer can bring her “Johnnie-O” backto her……just as Lorena repeatedly has tried to bring Bill out of his self-induced pity party. As Ferguson looks away – almost catatonic, Midge laments: “Please try. Try, Johnnie. You’re not lost. Mother’s here….Johnnie-O – you don’t even know I’m here, do you?” She kisses him goodbye one last time, and sadly walks out of his life, suddenly realizing that she’ll never fill the role Madeleine held in his heart. This is heartbreakingly similar to the pain we’ve witnessed in Lorena, and though Midge is not responsible for the guilt and pain Ferguson has endured, she feels as though she’s failed him by not being what he wanted.

Ferguson is released from the psychiatric hospital, and forlornly tries to recreate the past. He repeats the very actions that led him to his nervous breakdown (emulating Bill’s hamster-wheel inability to learn from his mistakes!) and revisits every locale that reminds him of Madeleine. At one point there’s a one-way street sign that symbolizes his unhealthy obsession with the past. Every blonde he sees is a look-alike, and then he spies a brunette with an uncanny resemblance on the street.

Ferguson follows this young Madeleine figure to her apartment (a classic Bill Compton stalker move), and speaks to her. The young lady bears a striking resemblanceto Mrs. Elster, and we know as the audience that it is indeed the same actress ( Kim Novak). As their heated conversation ensues (Ferguson’s manic need for his dear Madeleine is all that is driving him now) we hear the young lady defend her identity in a familiar, Sookie-esque manner: “Well, I told you. My name is Judy Barton. I come from Salina, Kansas. I work at Magnin’s, and I live here. My gosh, do I have to prove it?” This is a firm nod to “What are you?” “I’m a waitress.” As Russell Edgington put it……”And I’m Marie of Romania.” This conversation takes place in front of the mirror in Judy’s motel room– suggesting the double identity she (and Bill Compton, through his connection with Sookie) possesses. We findthat she comes from a broken home and has a father-figure complex – again, paralleling Sookie’s need for parental guidance.

Ferguson hounds her to go out to dinner with him, and Ms. Barton agrees, out of sheer pity. Once Ferguson departs, the camera stays with Judy Barton (another major nod to the shifting narratives between Sookie and Bill) and we learn what really happened that night at the Mission. This flashback style is utilized regularly in True Blood, and is definitely not an accidental tribute. Hitchcock finally shows us the truth – there was no supernatural element at all – Gavin Elster played upon Ferguson’s acrophobia and used him in a murder plot to kill his wife with the help of his mistress Judy! This enlightening tidbit would not be so earth-shattering if Hitchcock included his protagonist in the Big Reveal, but he does not. This is yet another instance of True Blood taking clues in how to create a suspenseful thriller – Sookie is just about the only character left who sees Bill as a hero.

In Judy’s flashback, we see that she DID indeed try to thwart her lover Elster’s murder plan at the last second by screaming, but he covers her mouth. Back in her present reality, we warm to her deception as she decides to write Ferguson a letter – confessing all. Judy was not the master-mind of this plot, and is actually rather sympathetic. Parts of this letter are eerily similar to Bill’s phone call to Sookie in Jackson, and parts of this confession ares till yet to come: “And so you found me. Now I’ll go andyou can give up your search. I want you to have peaceof mind. You have nothing to blame yourself for. You were the victim; I was the tool. I made a mistake. I fell in love. That wasn’t part of the plan. I’m still in love with you. And I don’t know whether I have the nerve to try.”

Judy declares her love for Ferguson and vows to makehim love her as she is, but knows it may be futile once he uncovers the truth about her past. This is perhaps the last time we can equate Bill Compton’s misdeeds as those of Judy Barton. From now on, she will be seen as a victim figure (like Sookie) – a pawn in the obsessive personal mission of Bill Compton’s doppelganger John “Scottie” Ferguson.

Ferguson and Judy dine at Ernie’s Restaurant (thesame place he first set eyes on Madeleine at the behestof Gavin Elster), and here we see an obvious homage toBill and Sookie’s halted engagement dinner. Judy Bartonis wearing a lavender sundress that looks remarkablysimilar to that worn by Sookie at the French restaurant in Shreveport in the season 2 finale and season 3 premiere. Ferguson presses Judy about spending more time together, paralleling Bill’s out-of-nowhere proposal.

It’s obvious that Ferguson needs Judy to make his charade complete, just like Bill needs Sookie to feel more human and assuage his own guilty conscience. She agrees to skip work the next day (Does Sookie ever clock in at Merlotte’s anymore?) and accompany Ferguson in yet another revisitation of his Madeleine-memory filled locations. He begins to suggest an overhaul of her wardrobe, just so Judy can embody Madeleine even more.

As we watch Ferguson mold and groom Judy Barton as a classic Pygmalion story, we remember that Elster was actually the first to manipulate Judy into a false identity. But Ferguson/Bill is becoming yet another Elster/Queen Sophie-Ann in his continuance of the charade. Bill is constantly trying to mold the subservient women in his life to his own out-dated antebellum ideals. He buys clothing for Jessica that is in line with his conservative ideals, he cautions her against slatternly ways and he has disciplined her with old-fashioned and cruel methods of violence. Bill Compton has also displayed this Pygmalion complex with Sookie – although more in the form of mental control than through her outward appearance (yet he DID buy her the lavender dress and insist she wear it!).

In the ladies clothing store, we see Ferguson’s resemblance to Bill in his demanding attitude towards female fashion. Ferguson is preoccupied with keeping up the appearance of Madeleine, even though he still does not know the truth. He is overcome with a need to dominate Judy’s wardrobe choices in the department store – even the saleswoman notices and remarks about his attention to detail (calling to mind Bill’s season 2 interaction with the Forever 21 saleswoman). Ferguson AND BillCompton feel the need to dominate the women in their lives and make them into vestiges of their pasts. Bill even comments to Sookie in early season 2 that he misses the days of petticoats……..it seems he wants her to become the Caroline that refused to take him back after his vampiric transformation.

Judy gets angry at Ferguson after this department store tirade, and begs him to love her for who she is – but eventually capitulates to his manipulations. We know as the audience that she’s partially fearful of being foundout, yet she convincingly plays up the fear of having her own identity stripped away. Eventually Judy gives in – stemming from her need for love and a nurturing parental figure. She even agrees to Ferguson’s wish forher to become a blonde, though once the deed is done she clings to her own take on the hairdo – much to Ferguson’s chagrin and annoyance. He wants the complete Madeleine package, and Judy capitulates once again.

John “Scottie” Ferguson’s point of view becomes all too clear once again when we see Judy’s complete transformation take hold. They have a passionate embrace,and he surrenders to his dreams of the past. As they discuss their dinner plans, Judy asks him for help fastening her necklace. This piece of jewelry is a forgotten keepsake of Judy’s “role” as Madeleine Elster as Carlotta Valdez,and it is her undoing – just as one of Bill Compton’s murder keepsakes will be his!

Ferguson becomes enraged, though he tries to coverup his acknowledgement of the necklace. He proceeds to drive Judy back to the San Juan Bautista Misson – and he is looking for answers. He insists that there is just one more thing to be done before he is rid of the past, and that he just wants to be free. He forcefully pulls Judy into the church to recreate the death of his beloved Madeleine. She cries out, “I don’t want to go there!” but he drags her up the stairs anyway. This is completely reminiscent of Bill draining Sookie in season 3, episode 7 – whether she agrees to go along or not, she isn’t expecting what’s coming to her. Ferguson says, “You’re my second chance, Judy. You’re my second chance!” (I’m sure Bill sees Sookie as his chance for redemption as well.)

Ferguson continues his brutal manhandling of Judy all the way up the stairs, finally admitting to her that he knows the truth. He finally recognizes his own likeness to Gavin Elster by stating, “He made you over just like I made you over.” He chastises Judy for keeping the necklace (as Sookie will chide Bill in the future for his murderous keepsakes), and through his rage and her cowering fear now that he knows of her deceptive complicity, Ferguson and Judy share one last moment of abusive passion. It is one part attraction and one part hate – conjuring images of Bill and Lorena’s season 3 abusive and hate-filled sexual encounter.

The embrace is broken by the voice of a nun investigating the noise in her church tower. Judy is engulfed in fear – possibly believing that her misdeeds have come back to haunt her in the form of CarlottaValdez, and she recoils from the embrace – plummeting to her death. The last words of Vertigo are uttered by the nun who unwittingly caused Judy’s death – “God have mercy.” The church bells toll, signaling eternal damnation for John “Scottie” Ferguson. He was able to conquer his vertigo by climbing the stairs to torment himself and Judy, but now he’s been totally destroyed by his actions. I feel this will be Bill’s fate in future seasons – no longer able to be with Sookie once the truth of his actions are finally realized by her, he will suffer the same fate as Ferguson – repeating a pattern that he is unable to break.

The Orpheus connections of Vertigo and True Blood are made clear once you notice that Ferguson loses his beloved by looking at her (too harshly – pursuing her secret.) Sookie and Bill are both tragic heroes, rejecting ordinary human love to seek love from someone “dead.” The rescue fantasy comes into play when we think of rescuing Judy from Ferguson (rescuing Sookie from Bill), rescuing both characters from Elster (or Queen Sophie-Ann), or perhaps even rescuing Judy from the heavy guise of Madeleine.

Vertigo represented a departure from the “norms” of film-making for Alfred Hitchcock, just as True Blood has for Alan Ball. This film devotes much time and effort to the dream of re-animating the dead. Even though we find out that the myth of Carlotta Valdez was merely a murderous plot device , the power of John “Scottie” Ferguson’s dreams and images are enough to preserve and bring the dead to life…much like those of Bill Compton and Sookie Stackhouse. We are only starting to learn the truths about the misdealings and pre-concieved goals of Mr. Compton, and I have no doubts that more will come to light. He is now Gavin Elster, John “Scottie” Ferguson, AND Judy Bartonall wrapped into one character.

Sources
Hitchcock’s Vertigo – The collapse of a rescue phantasy by Emanuel Berman
Vertigo Review by Tom Dirks
Movie Images

by Skarlove

The title of Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac’s 1954 novel can be translated The Living and the Dead, From Among the Dead, or Between Deaths. This is the story Vertigo is based on, and I feel the title says it all. From the very first moments of Alfred Hitchcock’s groundbreaking 1958 thriller Vertigo, (the opening credits, as a matter of fact) we as the audience are immediately drawn into the spinning, dizzy point of view of the main character.

Through a bright, geometrically colorful and psychedelic lens, we see a lovely female mouth twitching with anxiety. The camera then beckons us to enter a spinning tunnel through the iris of a human eye, ultimately passing to us that character’s point of view. As the camera (with the viewer along for the ride) travels outside the body yet again, we see the same eyes we were just behind dart from left to right, almost in panic mode. All this is complimented by suspenseful, urgent music that practically warns the viewer that the truth of what we are about to witness is subject to whose perspective we are viewing the story from. The screen becomes stained with a red hue, and we feel as though we’re experiencing one more change in perspective. Let us speculate for a moment that this red tint in the Vertigo opening credits symbolizes the influence held over our True Blood heroine, Sookie Stackhouse. The more of William Compton’s blood she imbibes, the less reliable she is as a narrator, and the more we see her world colored by what he wants her to be. The same can be said for the two main characters of Vertigo.

There is a major theme of unstable identity pervading the whole film, along with the subsequent currents of obsession, manipulation, angst and guilt. The opening credits provide a hint to the viewers that we are about to voyeuristically join a distinct two act journey. This is a journey of an ill-fated romance and of troubled souls, desperately trying to hold on to an illusion. We are about to witness a rescue fantasy where the protagonist fancies himself as Orpheus, trying to bring Eurydice back from Hades – or in the chivalrous tales of the Middle Ages, a Knight determined to annhilate the Dragon accosting his Beauty.

John “Scottie” Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) has been emotionally crippled by guilt. He blames himself for the death of his police partner, who died trying to save him from a San Francisco rooftop while in hot pursuit of a criminal. Now diagnosed with acrophobia (vertigo) we learn from a conversation with his former fiancé Midge (Barbara Bel Geddes) that his sudden fear of heights paralyzed him when his partner needed him most. As a policeman who is now unable to “police,” we see our first parallel to Mr. William Compton as a vampire who is seemingly at odds with his own identity.

As John and Midge discuss the ramifications of his disability, he tells her that he has resigned from the force due to his fears and guilt, but he swears that he’s still independent and emotionally stable. Midge tells him that according to her doctor, the only cure for his disease may be death, and she betrays the secret torch she still carries for him by worrying that Johnnie may go diving off another rooftop. It is obvious that Midge is still in love with “Johnnie”, and she also fills a maternal role – telling him to be a “big boy” and accept what he is now. This is a parallel between Midge and our dear Lorena. Midge calls Mr. Ferguson “Johnnie” and even more endearingly “Johnnie-O”, while most everyone else refers to him by the nickname of “Scottie.” Lorena always calls
Mr. Compton by his proper name of “William,” while most everyone else refers to him as “Bill.”

In the next scene, we meet an old acquaintance of Mr. Ferguson’s by the name of Gavin Elster. He’s a very wealthy man, bored by his ship-building business. His office is opulent, and he laments San Francisco’s bygone era…paralleling the conniving Queen Sophie-Ann and her wistful memories of the way humans used to taste prior to the Industrial Revolution. The Sophie-Ann connections continue careening toward us as we learn that Mr. Elster wishes to offer Scottie a job as a private investigator, tailing his wife Madeleine.

Elster asks: “Do you think that someone out of the past, someone dead, can enter and take possession of a human being?” He regales Scottie with tales of Madeleine being taken over by strange trances and disappearing for hours at a stretch. Scottie is skeptical of the whole notion of ghosts and lost souls, but agrees to at least see her before he declines the job. It is agreed upon by the two men that he will begin his reconnaissance mission at a restaurant that very night, and watch Mr. and Mrs. Elster dine so that Scottie can catch a glimpse of the woman he is to trail. This scene is an elegantly dressed forerunner of Bill Compton at Merlotte’s, though here Madeleine doesn’t see Scottie yet. He watches her, fascinated and attracted by her beauty and charm, his interest piqued by the air of mystery surrounding her. It is at this moment that Scottie/Bill’s obsession begins, and he agrees to accept the position as Elster’s spy.

Ferguson follows Madeleine Elster all over San Francisco, falling increasingly and hopelessly in love with her, and we learn that she is driven by the soul of a mysterious woman from the late 1800’s – that of her ancestor Carlotta Valdez. Ferguson tails her throughout her mysterious vigil at Carlotta’s museum portrait (complete with Madeleine’s exact replica of her low-knotted hairstyle, a golden bejeweled necklace and a carbon copy of Carlotta’s rose bouquet), then to an old motel where she uses Carlotta’s name in the registry, then finally to the Mission Dolores cemetery to visit her grave…all the while becoming entangled in the supernatural web that is being woven for us as the viewers.

We learn from a local historian the Valdez family lore – a tale of an abusive, manipulative man who uses his mistress Carlotta for his own ends, then tosses her aside when he’s finished. She kills herself, and after Ferguson hears this sordid tale, he begins to believe that Madeleine could actually be possessed by the soul of her dead great-grandmother, stating, “Well, I think that explains it! Anyone could become obsessed with the past with a background like that!”

The next day, Ferguson follows Madeleine again – to a promenade under the Golden Gate Bridge. He watches her throw herself into the bay, and dives in after her to save her in the manner of Orpheus bringing Eurydice back from Hades. At this point in the film I believe the True Blood character parallels reverse for a short time. Since Sookie has had so much of Bill’s blood, there are myriad times when her character acts as he would himself. Hitchcock’s characters may not have a blood bond, but they are master manipulators of each others emotions– and therefore the characters of Madeleine and Ferguson switch back and forth between the dominant and recessive narrator role just as Bill and Sookie do.

It is my belief that in this scene Sookie has become Ferguson (innocently rushing in to save someone in urgent danger) while Bill is identified as Madeleine. We as viewers begin to question whether she threw herself into San Francisco Bay merely because she knew Ferguson would save her. This immediately conjures True Blood memories of the first evening that Bill and Sookie met, and Sookie’s valiant rescue of Bill from the clutches of Mack and Denise Rattray. We are led to believe that Bill Compton is an innocent victim of evil drainers, only later to learn that something much more calculated was occurring.

The following scene in Ferguson’s apartment is equally as reminiscent of Bill and Sookie’s first night together. Madeleine thanks him for saving her, and comments on how lucky it was that he was wandering about. Ferguson is obviously entranced by her mysterious and haunting nature, and they share some intimate moments before being interrupted by an ominous phone call from Gavin Elster. While Ferguson is speaking to him, being warned that the Valdez curse of suicide is about to repeat itself, Madeleine leaves. Midge drives up at this moment, and sees the woman to whom she has forever lost her dear “Johnnie-O.” Midge feels lost and angry – she knows that this woman has something she can never give him (in this case beauty and sexual charisma), paralleling Lorena’s feelings of despair that she will never be the one Bill really wants.

Madeleine and Ferguson begin to fall hard for one another, and Ferguson (once again Bill Compton’s doppelganger) blurs the line between the job he was given and the mysterious woman he’s romancing. The film has an innocent, dreamy romantic quality to it at this point, and we as viewers forget our brief suspicion and enjoy the ride. This brings to mind the majority of season 1 of True Blood. The Knight who worships Beauty at all costs. We are in love because they are, and we see through the lens of dreamy, naïve narrators who want more than anything for their illusions to be real. Ferguson is the Knight of our Medieval fantasies – determined to find the Dragons of Madeleine’s past and slay them. Here we have the classic trio echoed in True Blood by Bill (the valiant Knight), Sookie (the beautiful Damsel in distress) and the Dragon (illustrated as Sophie-Ann as Elster who wants to subvert the innocent beauty for her own evil purposes).

Next we see Midge, who is seething that her dear friend and one-time lover has been absent from her life recently. We learn that she has desperately manipulated Ferguson into coming to see her, and that she has something to show him. She’s painted a portrait of herself as Carlotta Valdez as a cutting joke, which angers Ferguson to no end and further alienates Midge from him. This self-deprecating (yet hurtful) act has backfired on her, and is another obvious nod to Lorena. Midge has a poor self-image, and this cruel parody of herself points to the later re-making of Madeleine…..and subsequently Bill’s total monopolization of Sookie’s identity throughout season 2 of True Blood.

In the next scene, Ferguson and Madeleine are driving to another of Carlotta Valdez’s old haunts – San Juan Bautista’s Spanish Mission – so he can cure her of her haunted dreams and memories. He is trying to rescue her with a dose of reality therapy, and wants to end her nightmares, remedy her fears and by proxy – heal himself of his own obsession and acrophobia. It is in the Mission that the mask of Madeleine (here personifying Bill again) begins to come off. She oddly laments to Ferguson – in a strange tone we have not yet heard- that “It’s too late. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way,” and he replies naively as the symbol of Sookie “We’re in love! That’s all that counts.” She runs up the Mission stairs, knowing that Ferguson’s acrophobia will paralyze him if he tries to follow her. As he runs after her, dizzy and overcome with fear, we hear a scream – then see Madeleine’s body fall from the bell tower to her death. Ferguson is forced to watch someone die for a second time, and is powerless to stop it. The Knight has failed in his mission to save Beauty, and the audience is horrified by the crumbling of the rescue myth.

From here on out, Vertigo unfolds on a whole new level of grief and angst. We are now witnessing the valiant Knight as helpless and lonely as his Damsel – and worse. Our Knight will eventually become the Dragon himself. John “Scottie” Ferguson is filled with anger at himself for letting the love of his life die, and although Gavin Elster does not blame him for his wife’s suicidal demise, the coroner at the inquest maintains that he displayed a lack of initiative in saving her and as a result, Ferguson is irreparably damaged.

To be continued…

Sources
Hitchcock’s Vertigo – The collapse of a rescue phantasy by Emanuel Berman
Vertigo Review by Tom Dirks
Movie Images