Jeff be peeping while you sleeping

Rating: 7/10 (30 September 2016)

From cinemas leading auteur, Alfred Hitchcock comes the story of L.B. Jefferies, a photography who has been bound to a wheelchair after getting in the middle of a race car crash and now spends his days spying on the neighbours. One day the curious Jefferies begins to notice something isn't quite right with his neighbours the Thorwarld's and thus begins an investigation in search of the truth. It's a classic Hitchcock suspense thriller that plays on the themes of paranoia and voyeurism ans not only deals with issues behind other peoples closed doors but also talks of the voyeurism associated with cinema going.
The film keeps you guessing as the suspected crime remains just that, suspected. What unravels is an ambiguous psychological mystery for the most part as we are lead to question whether a crime has actually been committed or is Jefferies simply fixating on little things and trying to make his own narrative from them. As I previously stated if we step back and point the finger at ourselves and see what Hitchcock is saying about us, the viewer and our attempts to piece together the plots of peoples lives be it in real life or magnified on a cinema screen.
The film, like Jefferies, not only fixates on the the Thornwald's but also shows follows the lives of the other, rather eccentric neighbours, such as the fire escape couple and Miss Lonely hearts and the songwriter. These stories are intriguing as they seem to remain rather realistic as in little transpires in their lives over the course of the film with a few exceptions, but somehow you find yourself intrigued by their lives despite of the seemingly eventfulness of their home lives. This again speaks to the voyeurs in the audience, which it appears I am one of.
Overall, Rear Window is a contained film (pun intended) that conveys an intriguing message about voyeurism and cinema going. It's interesting to see as one of Hitchcock's essentials as that in itself could begin a debate of whether that is accurate but I think I'll just leave it here.