A Beautiful Classic

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2018)

'Rear Window' is a prime example of taking a simple idea and making it a masterpiece. The film manages to appeal to a broad range of our emotions including suspense, romance, and excitement thanks to the creative yet simple way it is filmed and directed. Right away the film begins by familiarizing the viewers with the scene where most of the story takes place, by showing us the busy view outside of Jefferies rear window. Each neighbor has an interesting and unique personality that makes it really feel like any of them could be the the main subject of the story. They're all cleverly named to match their personalities and it makes it very easy for the viewer to associate themselves with them by name almost immediately. For a film that has such a small set, it makes the best of it by really making all of the other apartments come to life with their own unique quirks and lifestyles that we get to see through the lense of Jefferies rear window.
The first act of the film mostly focuses on the life of all the neighbors and the relationship between Lisa and Jefferies. By doing this the viewer really becomes comfortable and familiar with all of the characters to the point of understanding them and their feelings. It is an interesting love story between Jefferies and Lisa. Lisa is in love with Jeff, and Jeff seems to think that she is too good and too perfect to be with a guy like her. I think this is a wonderful way to introduce the viewers to the main characters of the story and make them feel involved in the outcome of their situation.
It is right when it seems like there is much more to come between Jeff and Lisa that the story seems to have a sudden dramatic shift in tone, to more of a crime mystery film that is filled with suspense. It is in this portion of the movie where the way it is filmed really makes the viewer feel connected to the story. Jeff, who has been sitting in his window watching his neighbors lives very closely begins to notice something is out of place one night when he spots Mr. Thorwald leaving his apartment a few times very late at night. Since almost all of what the viewers have seen is through the eyes of Jefferies, we are inclined to also have the same biases and train of thought as him as well. So any conclusions he makes, it is easy for us to agree with him.
The film does a great job of having the viewer question if Jefferies is right or not when in introduces the character Detective Doyle. This is the first time we get to see someones opinion on the possible crime that isn't from our narrowed perspective we get from Jefferies. To me this was when it started to become more and more apparent that everything we had been learning about Thorwald and the criminal picture Jefferies had been painting of him could have been wrong. I think this forced perspective we are given is one of the most beautiful elements of the film and it all leads up to the end where we are in Jefferies apartment listening for footsteps outside the door, fearing for our lives. As viewers we become almost one with Jefferies, so we feel the same rushes of emotion as him as well. This perspective is what allowed Alfred Hitchcock to take a beautifully simple story, but use the power of a film camera to really make it a wonderful story with a cast of beautifully individual characters and stories as seen through the eyes of our main character.