Rear Window Review

Rating: 10/10 (24 September 2018)

Rear Window is directed by Alfred Hitchcock and stars James Stewart, Thelma Ritter, and Grace Kelly. It follows L. B. Jeffries, a daredevil photographer (Stewart) with a broken leg who, confined to his apartment, passes the time by spying on his neighbors through the window. This grows to an obsession when he starts to think he may have discovered a little neighborhood murder. Stewart shines as Jeffries, providing insight into his thoughts and feelings with each and every reaction shot (of which there are dozens). The happenings outside the window are shown exclusively from Jeffries's point of view, both visually and audibly, and sometimes relies on his reaction to provide insight for the audience. The apartment-courtyard in which the majority of the action takes place serves to separate Jeffries from his surroundings by quite some distance. It is impressive, therefore, that the viewer is never confused about any of the essentially silent scenes that play out in the tiny windows opposite. In fact, it's almost impossible to not be pulled into each little drama that we see play out across the way, making Jeffries a surrogate for the audience's own particular brand of voyeurism. After all, what is a screen, if not a window into another life? And it is here that Stewarts co-stars come in, effectively pulling his and the audience's attention back inward. Ritter plays Jeffries's nurse, Stella, who provides him with a few pieces of sage wisdom. For example, "We've become a race of Peeping Toms. What people ought to do is get outside their own house and look in for a change." Although perhaps a bit on the nose, this line provides insight into what ties the film's many sometimes disparate small storylines together. Rear Window is ultimately about voyeurism as a vehicle for introspection. As earlier stated, Hitchcock uses Jeffries's reaction shots to help the audience interpret what he sees, but most of the time the reverse is just as true. Jeffries's interest is held by an attractive bachelorette and her suitors, a brokenhearted woman having dinner by herself, a newlywed couple, and another couple that does nothing but argue. We soon learn why these hold his attention: he is grappling with thoughts of his own potential marriage. His girlfriend, Lisa (Kelly) wants to tie the knot, but Jeffries is unconvinced that she could be happy while he is constantly travelling to dangerous places for his job. Jeffries's internal conflict supersedes all else in this film, with even the murder mystery sometimes feeling like a side storyline, a way for Lisa to prove herself to Jeffries. It's all just a way to tell Jeffries's internal story. At least, it is until the outside world finally comes crashing in, a full hour and 45 minutes into the runtime. Hitchcock is a master of suspense, and his skills are on full display here, ratcheting up the tension throughout the second act. It all builds to the unforgettable moment when a murderer stands silhouetted in Jeffries's doorway. Up until this moment, all of the action has occurred at a distance, with Jeffries nothing more than a spectator. For the first time he is unprotected by even a pane of glass, and the effect is substantial. By stretching the buildup to moments like this for as long as possible, Hitchcock keeps the audience constantly on the edge of their seats for almost the entire runtime. Ultimately, Hitchcock assembles all these parts, the love story, the murder mystery, and the artistic exercise of filming most of the movie from a distance, and combines them together with a remarkable cohesion thanks to the thematic through line of marriage and Stewart's excellent performance.