Highly effective and enjoyable movie about observation

Rating: 9/10 (25 May 2013)

After Dial M for Murder's obsession with the small details, Hitchcocks takes this style further in Rear Window. Filmed in and from just one room, the camera sways and dances along the windows of the neighbours' houses as life happens. Zooming in there is a lot to be found: Hitchcock manages to create small visual passe-partout stories for each window. This visual style of telling a story is highly effective: we, the viewers, are obsessively watching and trying to pick out the little details just as the main character is. On a pure entertainment level, the plot is suspenseful and always interesting. James Stewart manages to keep the attention. Grace Kelly has grown in her acting since Dial M for Murder and is quite captivating here.