The ultimate triumph of imagination...

Rating: 9/10 (16 June 2012)

"Rear Window" is proof that one can put an actor a whole movie in the same room, even the exact same wheelchair and follow his actions for two hours, and it's still a hell of a ride. Providing we have an actor who can carry the whole film on his own shoulders and tremendous direction. The director in question in this case of course is Alfred Hitchcock and his collaborator as actor is one of his favorite lead regulars, the humble, always likable hero by circumstance, Jimmy Stewart. As far as this minimalism is concerned: The great master of suspense did a very similar thing to "Rear Windows" in "Dial M for Murder" (also shot in 1954), where one single apartment serves as the focal point for the entire action, and suspense can boil in this closed environment until the lid bursts open.
The vast set (a whole apartment complex plus courtyard!) built for this gem are one of a kind and there's the awe-inspiring beauty of the Technicolor cinematography, which along with the thrilling story, Stewart and Grace Kelly as the indispensable blonde makes this a quintessential Hitchcock film. And this in spite of the voyeurism that is portrayed, rather elegantly though - unlike it was the case with acclaimed director Michael Powell a few years later, whose "Peeping Tom" would try to turn the tables and let the murderer be the voyeur, an artistic attempt that practically cost him his career. Hitchcock however appeals to the imagination of the viewer in his film and scores big with this idea. There's no need to break out and leave Stewart's character to show the actual crime, not even in a flashback: It's all right there in front of your eyes, just a thought away.