Hitchcock at his finest...

Rating: 10/10 (12 August 2001)

I am personally a fan of Alfred Hitchcock films, so my opinion may be a little bias. Having said that, still, this is a film that anybody that watches movies should check out.
It says much on the morality of peeping into other peoples lives, and if we even have the right to. The genius of all of that is, is that we too get caught up in these lives that we view from afar. We view them through the eyes of Stewart, but still, we are never any better. And we always want to know more. If that doesn't interest you, however, you can still watch a great story unfold. A mystery that keeps us guessing until the end, and possibly after the movie ends. I won't ruin any of that for all of you though.
Hitchcocks direction is excellent. As with all of his great films, for instance 'The Birds' and 'North by Northwest', the pacing is great, and we never get a chance to get bored. Excellent, as well, are the performances from the entire cast. Whats best is the whole world that is created for us, from afar, based on assumptions that are speculations at best. Hitchcock never does tell us exactly what is going on. That is best left up to us to decide if what we see and what we are being told that we see are the same thing.
This film is so multifaceted that I really can't describe it all right now, you will have to see it all for yourself. It has a point that is relevent still, even more so today with the huge success of reality television, and the media lust for celebrity gossip(paparazzi). Take that away, and still you get a great suspense movie. We are all voyeurs, and through Stewart's eyes is each and everyone of us peering into the lives of everyone else. This is as good as Hitchcock gets, and properly earns him the title 'The Master of Suspense'. Fantastic. 10 out of 10.