Suspense is only the foundation for Hitchcock's psychological masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (23 July 2008)

If you describe yourself as the type of person who loves people-watching, then "Rear Window" should or already does rank as one of your favorite films. Not that dissecting people's voyeuristic tendencies is the film's only strength, but it is certainly what sets this film apart from all other films as well as other Alfred Hitchcock classics. It operates at a much slower pace, and it isolates the viewer by almost never taking the camera out of the room. This experimental technique is the mark of the artist working on his masterpiece, which is certainly the case (although just the first of many) with Hitchcock and "Rear Window."
I don't think any director who didn't have his own checkbook could have successfully pitched this film's concept. It's about a photographer named L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) who breaks his leg and has nothing to do all day but watch the people outside this window. Then one day he sees something suspicion and is taken in by it completely. It sounds like classic Hitchcock paranoia thriller, but it's too static and uneventful for that to summarize it accurately. The suspense that Hitchcock is masterful at is merely used as a crutch to keep this film going. Its ultimate goal is to make you just as itchy and paranoid as Jeffries is.
The way that Hitchcock brings you right into the lens (pun intended) of his main character is about as good it can be done in film-making. Stewart is a good actor, but it's more about the perspective and the isolating feel of this one-set film that gets you to conspire along with Jeffries, trying to figure out what's going on because you desperately want some sort of drama. But Hitchcock never gives you drama--he gives you suspense, suspicion and suggestions about all the people outside the window in the surrounding apartments--but never drama. It's sinister and cruel, but it's absolutely genius. It takes a true master to earn appreciation for that kind of a technique.
Just as good as the exploration of human nature at an impersonal distance is that at a personal distance. The relationship between Jeffries and girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) is about the close as the film gets to drama. Jeffries is convinced that her posh, urban mindset is not the right fit for his adventurous, rugged photojournalist lifestyle. Their troubles and the fact that he's more focused on the people outside his window than her adds to the complicated contrast between reality and perceived reality. Kelly is absolutely stunning and it adds to the strength of her role.
Without giving anything away, Hitchcock rides a fine line between truth and perception in this film and has you on the fence the entire time, bringing things to a trademark climax that gets your heart pumping. In general, however, this film is for those with a love of suspense and an appreciation of films that keep you inside your head the entire time. It is not a traditional thriller though it plays off some of those characteristics. It's really hard to get comfortable in this film, which is it's only weakness but perhaps its greatest strength.