In Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, colour is used to a significant degree to develop the characters and plot of the film, and also to convey certain messages to the viewer about these characters.
The first time that we see colour used symbolically is when we first see Madeleine Elster, or the woman we are supposed to think is Madeleine Elster. ... This use of colour serves to give Madeleine a very fresh and pure quality, the crisp and vibrant green of her clothing gives her a very natural beauty, which contrasts with the strong, overpowering, almost blood-like crimson of the walls. ...
We then see a very interesting use of lighting to change the colours in a frame and create different meanings. ...
The facts that the first time we see colour used so extravagantly (excluding the title sequence) coincides with our first sight of Madeleine, and that the colour being used is so vibrant and arresting, tell us that Madeleine’s character has a lot of depth. ...
This scene introduces the theme of colour and establishes it as an important factor in the film, it also associates the theme of colour with Madeleine’s character, an association that is renewed throughout the film. However, the uses of colour that we see through the film change in correspondence with the journey of Madeleine’s character. When we first see her, when she is herself (or what the audience and Ferguson believe to be herself) in the restaurant, she is swathed in a green sash, and she is surrounded by the rich red walls, she is bathed in colour, richly dressed and through her grace and beauty she is given an elegant, almost regal quality. ... We see nothing of the exciting dash of colour we saw in the restaurant, and the same effect has taken hold of her surroundings also. ...
It is at the point in the film when Ferguson meets Judy Barton, that we see Madeleine in another incarnation, this time as her real self, and we see her associated with another colour, this time the colour green. ... We can see to some extent at this point that the colour green may be a representation of reality, indicative of what is real in a tangled maze of lies and treachery. ...
In conclusion then we can see that in Vertigo, colour is used to a significant and full extent and has many uses, such as: the development of character, the construction of atmosphere and mood, foreshadowing of possibly dangerous or exciting events to come, and also the creation of meanings and beliefs.
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