watched on 12/26/25......peakest of the peak movies I've seen. So good, the film, the colors, the angles, THE STORY OMG THE STORY. Scottie's interest turned obsession with not Madeline, but the idea of Madeline. This mysterious, almost phamtom-like women that veils his judgement and actions. He thinks about her, he sees her everywhere she looks: in the flowers, in the car, in the mere color of blonde. But he doesn't want her, he desires---even craves only the Madeline build up inside of his mind. The Woman, The Woman in White, The Phamtom, The Dream. Like a drug he can't get off of, but we are not sympathetic to him. He see him yell, berate Judy, turning her into Madeline but it doesn't matter because to him, nothing can truly replace Madeline in his mind. When he brings her to the bell tower, yes it is to solve the case, but also for his own selfish gain of finally accomplishing it. He hates feeling weak and the feeling of missing saving the damsel tears him apart. His Madeline, gone. This thought torments him, driving him mad till he can only gaze at the bleak walls of his room and think. Carlotta, Judy, Madeline: All these women are complex, different people but through Scottie's gaze, they blur into one hybrid, Madeline. Midge seems more genuine, more human than Madeline but Scottie looks over her, why? Because he's infatuated with a apparition, one his own mind crafted as he spends countless hours with her, whether real or fake. The entire movie is a downward spiral into insanity, a deep look into Scottie's mind as it unravels until he's nothing like the beginning. Amazing film, would rewatch.