What about the colors green and red in “Vertigo”?

The colors in “Vertigo”

It goes without saying dizziness is one of the greatest films of all time, with everyone doing their best. Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak are an incredible couple who oscillate between reality and obsession.

Hitchcock’s direction and the creepy melancholy of the cinematography are magnificent.

Not many people know this, but Saul Bass not only designed the poster and titles, but was also the film’s color consultant. That said, he also had a lot of influence on what ended up on the screen. His collaboration with Hitchcock on this film makes it one of the best of all time.

This is a good place to say that all color psychology is completely subjective. You don’t have to agree with me about what that means. That’s what makes art so great.

The two dominant colors in this film are red and green.

So what do they mean?

Green in “Vertigo”

The color green is used throughout dizzinessespecially around the character Madeline. When we meet her, she is wearing a green dress. She drives a green car and later, in the film’s most famous shot, she is enveloped in neon green light and darkness.

There are many theories as to when this means green, but I think the simplest of them is that it is deception.

Madeline deceives Scotty when she sees him for the first time. And she continues to deceive him while wearing green throughout the film. After Madeline’s death, we are introduced to Judy in green, standing between two green cars.

And when Judy later begs Scotty to love her for who she is and not for the past, she is bathed in green light, showing us that the past still envelops her.

My main argument for green symbolizing deception comes from when Scotty himself wears the green.

It’s after Madeline’s fake suicide attempt. When Scotty takes her to his house, he puts on a green sweater and lies to her about being the good Samaritan who saved her.

This transition from green, which now highlights Scotty’s lies, shows that it is a conscious decision by Bass and Hitchcock.

But in the same scene we see Madeline putting on a red robe…

So what does the red mean? dizziness mean?

Red in “Vertigo”

Red is an interesting motif, I’ve heard people say they think it’s love because it highlights how Scotty sees Madeline full of love.

But to me red means blood.

When we first see Madeline in her green dress, she is caught in Ernie’s red background, as if she were trapped in a beating heart.

Later, when she’s wrapped in that red robe, I think it feels like she’s covered in blood – even in a fake suicide, we can interpret that fatalistic coloring.

When the fake Madeline later falls from the church tower, she falls onto a red roof and dies. Later, the same thing happens to Judy.

Red even covers for Midge dizziness. It’s the color of her top as she reveals her painting of herself as Carlotta, causing Scotty to panic. Even though we never see Midge die on screen, this scene destroys their relationship. We never see them happy together or flirting again in the film.

She’s literally bleeding for Scotty at this moment and he doesn’t care.

Even Scotty’s front door to his apartment is red, marked as the sacrificial lamb of the story, the unwitting detective who gets caught up in this mess.