Obsessed with Vertigo

This is a succinct, made-for-TV documentary about the making and restoration of Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo (1958) that is decidedly more compelling than your average "making of" bonus feature.

A voice-over narration and short interviews with Hitchcock collaborators reveal some interesting nuggets about some of the general ideas and little details that went into making this film. It was very interesting to hear the thought process behind some of the decisions made in creating this endlessly intriguing and influential film.

What adds an additional layer of intrigue to this documentary is that the material about the making of Vertigo is interspersed with a look at the process of restoring the film to its original state. This is something I had never really thought about, but in the case of Vertigo, this was apparently an essential undertaking, as only deteriorated prints of the film were circulating in the early 1990s. People watching these faded copies of the original could not appreciate the film in its full glory, and without the efforts of these restorers, Vertigo might have been lost forever. Fortunately for us, Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz took on the expensive and time-consuming process of restoring this film. Indeed, it is clear from what we see here that film restoration is painstaking and laborious work. But the results are remarkable. The passion these people have for film is undeniable and the service they have provided invaluable. These guys are heroes!

Overall, this short documentary is loaded with information. I felt like the mixture of background on Hitchcock's career, behind-the-scenes info about the making of Vertigo and a detailed look at the restoration process maybe might have merited a feature-length documentary. But as it stands, this dense 29-minutes documentary is definitely worth checking out for film buffs.