A timeless Hitchcock classic

Rating: 9/10 (17 November 2010)

Rear Window is an essential Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece. It stands as one of his most mysterious and creatively superb films full of suspense, tension, and a few laughs provided by the strong cast. The amazingly talented and legendary James Stewart plays L.B. Jeffries, a photographer who is stuck at home in a wheelchair and full leg cast. Bored to death, Jeffries passes the time by looking at his neighbors across the street in their windows. What begins as kind of a creepy and odd hobby, eventually becomes obsession when Jeffries believes he may have witnessed a murder. He is convinced that one of the men across the way named Lars Thorwald has murdered his wife and is now trying to cover it up. Jeffries tries desperately to prove Thorwald guilty, while no one else around him will believe what he tells them. It makes for a very riveting film full to the brim with mystery and intrigue.
Rear Window is a combination of so many great elements. One of those elements is obviously the director himself, Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock was a master of groundbreaking creativity in visual storytelling, and he utilized all kinds of new techniques in his films, Rear Window included. The entire movie takes place in Jeffries' apartment and the camera respects this aspect. Every shot towards the multiple people Jeffries spies on is set up at the appropriate distance that Jeffries actually is. Thus our view and audio is as limited as the actual character in the movie. In fact, every bit of audio in the film is in context. One of the people in Jeffries' neighborhood is an aspiring musician, thus all the music in the film comes from this man's apartment, and yet it is still very fitting music, as well as prevalent in most scenes where it is appropriate. Hitchcock also displays his innovative storytelling ability by telling multiple stories around the neighborhood, all of which adhere to Jeffries' view from his window. We have the story of the musician obviously, as well as a young married couple, and a lonely girl who is slowly becoming depressed when she can find nobody to love. Her story even intertwines with another towards the end of the film, allowing this neighborhood to be many individual stories, while also a collaboration of one. The main focus is obviously on the murder suspect directly across from Jeffries. And rightfully so.
Another thing which drives the excellence of Rear Window is a limited, yet fantastic cast. James Stewart is just unbelievably talented and never drops below a level of complete brilliance in this film. He combines a perfect element of drama and suspense with his own comedic flare which is both sarcastic and at times sardonic. Alongside him is his lover, Lisa Fremont, who is played by the beautiful Grace Kelly. She plays off of Stewart incredibly well and the two of them become an very believable set of characters. The movie focuses on their relationship and its past, and yet it never forgets what it is truly about, which is the murder mystery. Everything in the movie works very well with each other, and never becomes too much about one thing.
And if just being a fascinating and highly entertaining movie wasn't enough, Rear Window even raises some ethical questions concerning what Jeffries is doing as he spies on his fellow neighbors. The characters undergo a constant internal struggle of whether or not it is truly worth it to prove their suspects innocence or guilt. This is still a very relevant ethical debate in a society where we value our privacy more than anything in the entire world it seems. Rear Window keeps you thinking about things like this through its entirety, yet it never forgets that it is a movie where suspense and mystery are the central focus, and so it remains high value entertainment the whole way through. It's hard to find a balance between preachy and entertaining, yet Rear Window does a very good job at it.
Alfred Hitchcock never ceases to amaze, and in his long list of films it's hard to find one that won't keep you at least mildly interested. Rear Window goes above and beyond mildly interesting and succeeds in becoming a fantastic mystery film with all of its own unique merits. Unfortunately, the ending is a bit abrupt and you can't help but wish for more, but everything else about the movie is so fantastic. This is a must see film.