Another Hitchcock masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2019)

It's a sad fact that when one watches a lot of old classic movies they come away slightly dissatisfied, either because aspects of the film haven't aged well, or because the movie has since been copied so many times that you can recite the plot in your sleep.
Hitchcock is one of few filmmakers from the Golden Age of Hollywood to whom this does not apply. His films simply do not seem to age. Sure, if you want to be picky you can probably find little things that no longer seem realistic, but the thing is that his movies are so overwhelmingly involving that you don't tend to notice or want to engage in such nitpicking.
"Rear Window" is one of his masterpieces, and he made a few. It is extraordinary to me how many movies attempt to be suspenseful, and aren't. Hitchcock was called "The Master" for a reason. He was a master: of stage direction, sets, dialogue, subtle use of close-up, and, perhaps above all, of suspense.
You probably already know what "Rear Window" is about, even if you haven't seen it. The Hollywood legend Jimmy Stewart, certainly one of the greatest actors the silver screen ever held, stars as a photojournalist who is laid out with a broken leg and spies on his neighbours across from him to pass the time. He comes to believe that one of his neighbours has murdered his wife, and at first his naive girlfriend and nurse don't believe him, but then they come around and become involved in the theory as well, to their own peril.
It is, simply put, a masterpiece. In this day and age, the device of a movie that never leaves a room would be an advertising gimmick to draw in customers. Here, you don't even notice it - it's a surprise to realise you never left Stewart's side. And it's climax is more than just suspenseful - it's almost unbearable.
If you are a film lover, you owe it to yourself to watch "Rear Window".