Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo now has a huge reputation to live up to because only a couple years back, it dethroned Orson Welles' Citizen Kane from the top spot in the British Film Institute's Sight & Sound critics' poll; a position Welles' magnum opus had held for 50 long years. But now that I've seen it, not only does this film feel unworthy of its new-found honour but isn't even the most defining work of Hitchcock's glorious career.

The story follows a police detective who is forced into retirement after his fear of height results in the death of a colleague while he was on duty. He is eventually hired by an acquaintance as a private investigator whose job is to keep an eye on his beautiful wife who has been behaving strangely of lately. The plot covers his inquiry into the matter until he becomes dangerously obsessed with her.

The entire film is expertly directed and not only shows how experimental Hitchcock can get but also exhibits the effortless ease with which he was able to fuse his artful elements into every aspect without compromising with the film's entertainment value. The first half plays out like a psychological horror with thrilling unpredictability but it's the second half where the film goes downhill for me with its take on love & loss, and that ending.

There are several things to like about this picture yet in the end it feels a tad too overlong and concludes on a rather unsatisfying note. Cinematography captures its events in a gorgeous fashion and is also responsible for the bringing dolly zoom technique into the filmmaking manual. Editing could've used a few more trims in the second half. Bernard Herrmann's score aptly reflects the story themes, and the performances from James Stewart & Kim Novak are top-notch.

On an overall scale, Vertigo is a brilliantly crafted & artistically appealing cinema that hasn't aged very well, considering that countless imitations have taken away most of its mystery elements and its ending isn't that difficult to deduce either. But this psychological thriller can still surprise many in certain aspects and although I don't agree with its new found tag of 'the greatest film of all time', I also can't deny its significant contribution to world cinema.

A second viewing some other time might change my perception of this deemed masterpiece but for now, Vertigo remains an underwhelming ride.