Alfred Hitchcock’s psychosexual thriller VERTIGO has fascinated audiences, critics, and filmmakers since its release in 1958. It broke into the top ten of the Sight & Sound poll in 1992 and toppled CITIZEN KANE for the number one slot in 2012. In addition to countless readings by critics and scholars often influenced by the work of Freud and Lacan, numerous filmmakers have been influenced in different ways by the film, both consciously and unconsciously, resulting in a collection of works that in different ways play with its plot and themes.
In this course we will focus on four films that in different ways engage with some aspect of VERTIGO: an homage by Brian de Palma, a sixth generation Chinese neo-noir by Lou Ye, Christian Petzhold’s post-war set reworking of Vertigo’s third act, and Park Chan-Wook’s most recent theatrical release. These films will be discussed both on their merits and as they relate to VERTIGO.
Students are highly encouraged to screen VERTIGO on their own prior to the first session.
Films:
11/6: OBSESSION (1976, 98 min)
11/13: SUZHOU RIVER (2000, 83 min)
11/20: PHOENIX (2014, 98 min)
11/27: DECISION TO LEAVE (2022, 138 min)
This class will be taught by MMU Instructor Jordan Sudermann, who teaches IB Film and various social science courses at Lincoln High School. His interests in film include post-war European art cinema, East Asian cinemas, and queer cinemas.
Films will be screened at the Movie Madness Miniplex, followed by an instructor-led discussion. Classes will begin on Wednesday evening, November 6th, and be held each Wednesday through the 27th at 6:30pm.
Class size will be limited to 18.
Email us at education@moviemadness.org if you have any questions.
In general, the Hollywood Theatre does not provide content advisories about the subject matter shown in our theatre. Films exhibited don’t necessarily reflect the views of the Hollywood Theatre. Information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media and DoesTheDogDie.com.