Rear Window

Rating: 9/10 (24 September 2018)

In Alfred Hitchcock's film Rear Window, he masterly tells a story quite unusual from the rest. Mr. Hitchcock dives into the realm of observation as he portrays L.B Jefferies, a wheelchair bound photographer bored out of his mind. Jefferies, trapped in his tiny apartment, casts his view towards the outside courtyard to gaze at his neighbors. As Jefferies peers into what is best left unseen, he catches onto the coattails of what seems to be a murder. Jefferies, along with his fiancée, watch and unravel the mystery that unfolds in Jefferies' backyard.
Alfred Hitchcock is crowned to be the master of suspense and carries his title into this film. Hitchcock employs the viewers to fixate on actions done by characters to build suspense through out the film. One suspenseful scene highlighted in the film is when Mr. Thorwald catches the sight of Jefferies spying on him through the window. As Mr. Thorwald makes his way over to Jefferies, Hitchcock builds suspense by what is left unseen. The scene grows more and more intense as the deafening sounds of Throvald's foot falls approach Jefferies' door. Jefferies' actions are also used to build the suspense of the film. Jefferies answers a call from Doyle in a hurried whisper, detailing the event of what transpired that night. Another call comes in later in which Jeff answers in a hurry, believing its's Doyle. Only after the phone call cuts off after a few words from Jeff does the viewer guess at who the caller truly was. By using the reader to use their mind to guess at the true caller, Hitchcock deepens the interest of the viewer and more so the suspense. Later the suspense builds as the view watches Jefferies scramble around to prepare for the inevitable entry of Thorwald. Whether it is the actions of others left unseen or the actions that the viewer sees, both of these are employed by Hitchcock to increase the suspense of the movie.
Another device that Hitchcock uses is foreshadowing, primarily in the scenes with Stella, Jeff's nurse that takes care of him on occasion. While Jeff first exposes his interest in viewing the courtyard and spying on people, Stella comments that the punishment for a peeping tom is six months in the workhouse. Later she continues to detail that she has a nose for trouble. This trouble is what Hitchcock wants to focus on. The trouble that will continue to develop in the second act, the complication, will form all from the observations that Jeff will make in the coming days. When Jeff starts "seeing things (he) shouldn't see", he will entangle himself into the trouble brewing underneath the surface in these apartments.
Hitchcock holds a deep respect for the camera and how it can be used to tell a story. Hitchcock, in multiple scenes across the film, uses Jeff's camera or action of leaning in to zoom into certain areas. The zooming in of a camera is used to place a greater emphasis on the actions seen through those lenses. The scene that comes to mind is during Jeff's diner with Lisa. As she wanders into the kitchen to prepare the meal, Jeff can be seen looking out the window staring at the Thorwalds. Jeff is slowly gripped by the situation and hopes to learn more by leaning in which in turn zooms in the whole view of the camera. As Mr. and Mrs. Thorwald argue, Jeff desperately tries to hear more but ultimately fails, leaving the conversation left up to the viewer to piece together. Hitchcock wishes to convey to the viewer that this scene is important through the leaning and zooming in. Other important scenes also revolve around the zooming in aspect employed by Hitchcock and are highlighted due to this.
Although Hitchcock doesn't have Jeff go into much detail on the morality of watching people, he uses other means to convey his feelings to the viewer. Hitchcock has shadows to emphasize this point. Whenever Jeff fears of being spotted, he doesn't stay by the window in the light where he can own up to his crime, instead he retreats into the darkness of the shadows behind him. The shadows casually fall down onto Jeff's face which symbolizes the darker theme of what he is doing.
The last area that Hitchcock looks into is the sense of being an observer. Throughout the film, Jeff is trapped in his wheelchair with nowhere to go. He looks down on his neighbors and spies into their lives. However, Hitchcock uses much more to develop Jeff as an observer. During moments of action and suspense, Jeff is sometimes trapped in hesitation and much like the viewer, fail to act. As Lisa explores the apartment and Thorwald approaches, both the viewer and Jeff can do little more than hope that everything will turn out ok. It was only after a little delay that Jeff realizes that he remembers that he is also an active character that can do something to prevent a tragedy. It is in this moment that he escapes his illusion of only being an observer and becomes a player who calls the police. Hitchcock uses Jeff's identity as an observer to develop a stronger sense of connection between the viewers and Jeff, all in the name of allowing the viewers to understand and become more invested in the story. It isn't only until the end of the story that Jeff is thrust into an active role to defend himself from Thorwald's attacks.