A tad bit of analysis

Rating: 10/10 (23 September 2018)

Although Rear Window is a relatively old film, I can see why it is one of the classics. In this film, L.B Jefferies is a photographer who is stuck in his room because of a leg injury. His only method of entertainment is to look out through his rear view window where he is able to peek into the lives of his neighbors. This simplistic setup of the story, however, doesn't dilute from the actual content of the story at all with elements of romance, mystery, and abundant amounts of suspense. Through his conversations with his caretaker Stella, his wife Lisa, and through his external action, we're able to slowly characterize and figure out what kind of person Jefferies is and discover the main conflicts of this film. We realize his dissatisfaction with Lisa and how he believes he is unable to decide whether or not to marry her. We also figure out the external conflict, which is revealed when he spent an entire night peering at Thorwald, concluded that he murdered his wife, and then almost obsessively trying to get his detective friend to go investigate. However, unlike other films, these conflicts are all resolved with Jefferies not having to move at all from his room.
Alfred Hitchcock, aka the Master of Suspense, lives up to his name in this film. By putting the audience in the point of view of L.B Jefferies he is able to masterfully create scenes of suspense where the user feels as restrained as the main protagonist of this story. Switching between the subjective point of view and the indirect-subjective point of view allows the audience to feel the emotions that are reflected in Jefferies' face. We can feel the anticipation and the suspense that Jefferies is feeling during a close up shot at his expression in the scene when Lisa becomes stuck in Thorwald's apartment; we realize his worthlessness and ours in the situation. We can feel the tense and almost hopeless situation as Thorwald slowly approaches towards his door and he frantically tries to find a weapon while being stuck in his wheelchair. Jefferies is kept in our attention to keep us anxious, the use of foreground framing keeps him that way even when he is moving about in the screen. When Thorwald finally appears in his room, the anticipation climaxes, as the camera depicts a low-angle shot of Thorwald, dominating over Jefferies.
Just like Jefferies, we are stuck behind a window, and can only view the events that are happening but unable to take action. This is shown throughout the film when Jefferies girlfriend takes a bold move and climbs into Thorwald's apartment, we feel a similar feeling to Jefferies: we felt fearful and wanted her to reconvene with us instead. However, just like Jefferies, we are not able to call out or stop her. Lisa is seen in the objective view, far away and distant from us. However, by using his camera, he is able to yet again zoom in to see what is going on and to also get closer to Lisa. Zooming in and out to view the different events that are happening in his neighborhood is a constant technique used throughout the film. Alfred Hitchcock likes to have the audience feel what the character is feeling and uses Jefferies' camera as a way to restrict our point of view but also to help us get in closer personally and to view more accurately what is happening.
Alfred Hitchcock uses of perspective also touches on a darker element of human nature: Voyeurism. Voyeurism is the act of deriving pleasure from spying on people engaging in intimate behaviors. Although it might not be sexual in nature, we do a similar activity by deriving pleasure from peeking into the lives of people in a movie theater. This is an element Hitchcock uses to entrap us into Jefferies' voyeuristic actions. We get to see many of his neighbors like "Miss Torso" who tends to be in revealing outfits and "Miss Lonelyhearts" who doesn't seem to be able to get an adequate boyfriend. We as the audience shares his curiosity, which eventually becomes obsessive, as the camera pans around to each window like he's watching a movie, we get to see a glimpse of their lives after each day. Alfred Hitchcock, however, doesn't provide any narration or explanation to what is happening. We as the audience have to deduce what is happening without any dialogue but only with the details that are given. This way of storytelling is part of the film's genius. It allows us to provide our own interpretations and secretly allows us to touch on our own voyeuristic tendencies.
Rear Window unifies all these elements to become truly a classic and masterpiece. Alfred Hitchcock not only used a wide variety of film techniques but capitalized on them to capture the audience's attention and skillfully create scenes filled with suspense.