Visual Storytelling at its Finest

Rating: 9/10 (5 February 2018)

This Alfred Hitchcock classic shows just what a detailed filmmaker he really was. The film features excellently directed acting, set design, cinematography, lighting, and pacing.
The acting quality is already of a high standard knowing that James Stewart stars in the leading role as a man in a wheelchair observing his neighborhood. His acting is given the opportunity to shine thanks to his inability to animate his delivery in the vast majority of the movie. He does an immensely excellent job reacting to the events going on from his window, so well that it truly feels like he is watching the events unfold with just as much curiosity as the viewer. The supporting cast also does a great job, specifically the actors playing the characters that Stewart's character is observing. They masterfully acted out their scenes in such a fashion that the viewer could understand what was going on without actually hearing what they were saying, in part thanks to the set design.
The set design is carefully executed in order to allow the viewer to clearly see what is going on around an almost convoluted apartment complex. This is done by giving each "apartment" a distinct look and shape in order to prevent the viewer from being lost as to which "apartment" they looking at. It would have been easy to make the stage look very stale and normal in order to fit the "every day" setting of the film, but the fact that it was decided to instead give the neighborhood a very distinct look helped the film immensely in terms of directing the viewer's attention. The viewer's attention, however, is also guided by the meticulous cinematography.
The cinematography is carefully coordinated in order to guide the viewer along the protagonist's point of view. The movie features an extensive amount of POV shots, which are excellent at presenting the viewer with the exact same amount of information as the protagonist. The camera is always carefully planted in order to show the viewer just the right amount of information, and rarely instills confusion as to what is supposed to be noticed within the shot. The cinematography isn't always limited to POV-shots, however. There are many different kind of shots, such as pans, tracking shots, and reaction shots, all used to build up the story, setting, and characters into a well designed whole. Overall though, it is the fine attention to detail in terms of zoom levels, angles, and lighting that allow the shots to truly capture the moments.
The lighting is very sophisticated in terms of how it is often used to both reveal and hide information from the viewer/protagonist. Light plays the role of exposing characters to the rest of the characters, while darkness is used to hide a character from the rest of the neighborhood. Many of the "apartments" are often very well lit in order to allow the viewer to be able to tell exactly what they are they looking at. The lighting isn't just limited to observational shots, as it also plays a crucial role in character relationships and development. Subtleties like casting the protagonist in darkness when he feels discontent over his situation with his girlfriend, and other similar narrative elements, are what allow the lighting to play not just a visual role, but a narrative role.
The pacing is very consistent as a result of well written dialogue and the extensive presence of suspense and the viewer's sympathy with the protagonist. The dialogue is often witty and clever, allowing the user to enjoy dialogue heavy scenes without feeling like the movie is slowing down, while the scenes during which the protagonist is investigating feel naturally paced thanks to the fact that the viewer and protagonist are presented with information at the exact same moment in the exact same way. Hitchcock's masterful use of suspense further allows the movie to move along at a steady pace as there are multiple scenes throughout the film where the viewer feels as if something critical could happen at a short notice, in turn gluing both the viewer (and often the protagonist) to the movie.
Overall, the movie is not just a well done movie, but a well done example of how to present information to the viewer, while also a strong example of how to keep the viewer interested with not only dialogue, but visual storytelling. The film suffers in terms of the actual sense of mystery present in the movie, however, as the story is nothing exceptionally out of the ordinary and isn't difficult to predict. Despite this, the film is a very enjoyable experience and is recommended to anyone looking for not just a Hitchcock movie, but to anyone simply looking for a very overall enjoyable mystery movie. Rating: 9/10