Vertigo starts as it means to go on - in a heady downward spiral. The names of the director and the two leads appear in front of an extreme close-up of a woman's face and the rest of the cast and crew are listed while spirals rush towards the audience (or vice versa). This disorientating experience is followed by the rooftop chase, a scenario that is immediately recognizable so that a few key themes can be hammered home. These are the chase (hinting at the main character's later pursuit of a mystery) and the struggle to keep up (the first action is a fist grasping a ladder rung). The first piece of character development is achieved entirely visually with the famous track-out/zoom-in shot - establishing Scottie's vertigo and the fear/attraction of death that lies beneath.

Few other films begin with such bewildering credits, such negativity in...