I'm not much on Rear Window ratings

Rating: 8/10 (8 February 2006)

I'm not much on Rear Window ratings, thus I did not watch this film just because of its acclaim. And, I'm not one for Rear Window ethics so i daren't discuss it. But I do know one thing: I enjoyed the voyeur in me surfacing to play the role Hitch wanted me (us the audience) to fulfill in being curious and as intrigued (sometimes knowing more where he allowed it - they call it suspense) as L.B Jeffries (played with immobile precision by Jimmy Stewart) while he spent his wheelchair bound hiatus staring at the antics of his Greenwich Ville neighborhood.
For me, the film does not 'have it all' as some have claimed, even though it might be very well the quintessentially complete Hitch flick with black comedy/suspense and mystery. Backed by artificial lighting and a stage set underground, I thought the film was meticulously brilliant in terms of cinematography with each 50mm cut and edit and mise en scene set up and in place with purpose. The cocoon world of the set (which we are never allowed to leave- i.e. Jeffries' apartment area) gives us the confined limits and we focus on the actualities of the small world we now have. Never done in film till that point (or at least to be the central subject), our cursory voyeuristic tendencies are tapped from the beginning with the scrutinizing of the various NewYork stereotypes and the alienation of apartment living- ballet blonde who 'juggles wolves' while her man is off in the 48th Parallel; bored mid-aged couple with dog who sleep on the stairs in the NY heatwave; Bagdaranian the songwriting pianist; Miss Lonelyhearts who soliloquizes dating by herself; and Perry Mason & wife. Each window opens a unique little snippet, while alas, Hitch & Herbie deliver a masterful addition of a romantic story with chemistry that has enough vive of its own (in Grace Kelly's character) to drive the whole film (watching Stewart discuss Fish Heads Rice & jungles only to see Kelly climb into adventure later to impress him is genius). In addition, the romance's placement is well supplemented by sublimely timed comedic out-turns from Thelma Ritter to play up the fantastic dialogue and help add humor bound rationality like spreading 'common sense on the bread'.
As a result, there is great pacing in the film, with plenty of visual cues (otherwise they might as well have left it a written work isn't it!) and the usual Hitch thrills and suspense, especially right at the end, where the climatic showdown is one real confrontational flare. I liked the way Hitch did not need to leave the set (or use flashbacks) to tell such a complete story for each character. From the start, and before he contacts his editor, where we see Jeffries' cameras/bulbs/picture frames on the wall, we know his poison. Through his nurse (Ritter), we understand his relationship and learn about Kelly's character. Through mere visual representations of each of the members of the cast (all guided by earpieces including a hilarious mattress scene that resulted because Hitch deliberately gave conflicting instructions), we see through each character's gripes and personas. From arbitrary dance steps to improvisational jazz or 'That's Amore' pieces to a troubled husband (Raymond Burr) eventually clearing his apartment with knives and suitcases at 3am, we are hooked on Hitch's mystery. Only through Kelly's and Stewart's interaction and Club21 meals do we get the rationalization, the discussions and the point of view of it all. The verisimilitude is amazing, and as such may well have been the first concept for 'reality show' that we now see as the most popular form of television half a century later- further reason why some say 'Rear Window' has never been more acclaimed as a film as compared to this current decade.
That's what does it for this film- an honesty, everyman situation that not only audiences identify with, but are also lured into the suspense of. Little wonder then that it is a top film, but then again, I'm really not much on Rear Window ratings.
By Stephen Thanabalan