The Peeping Tom Movie

Rating: Null/10 (21 February 2006)

When the issue is a fifty year old "classic" that others rave over, the easiest thing in the world is to go along with the crowd, and proclaim the film a "masterpiece". You've got lots of protective cover.
But I, for one, do not like this film, and I don't mind saying so. First, the film's theme is unethical. Many people equate Jefferies' voyeurism to an audience watching a movie. Such a comparison ostensibly makes the voyeuristic theme harmless. But filmmakers make movies specifically to be watched. By contrast, most people at home value their privacy, and would not like some neighbor from across the street spying on them through binoculars. In this film, Hitchcock gets away with it because the guy doing the spying is played by a famous, and beloved, actor named James Stewart.
The second problem is the film's contrived plot. The timing of Thorwald's activities with Jefferies' spying is way too coincidental, for my taste. And without Thorwald's activities, you don't have a story. Further, Thorwald conveniently leaves his windows open to view, behavior that is not believable. For that matter, how believable is it that any of those neighbors would leave their windows open to view, in such a tight, claustrophobic setting? And without those open windows, you don't have a story.
My third objection is the film's lack of suspense and lack of plot twists. I do not consider this film to be a thriller at all. It's more of a social commentary on nosy neighbors.
Most viewers would pounce on a film whose theme is unethical, or would jump all over a film that has obvious contrivances, or lacks suspense or plot twists. In the case of "Rear Window", however, viewers ignore the film's flaws, because the film has Hitchcock's name attached to it. And so, we have a double standard. The standards are fairly low for films directed by Hitchcock. A much tougher set of standards apply to films made by other directors.