Rear Window

Reviewer: Joseph Brennan

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey

Released:1954

Celebrating its sixtieth anniversary this year, it feels as if there is not much else to say about ‘Rear Window’ that hasn’t been said a billion times already. The years have solidified Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film as a masterpiece. So much so that the prospect of writing a review on it is one part exciting, two parts daunting.

‘Rear Window’ begins, middles, and ends in the apartment of L.B. Jefferies (played by the irreplaceable Jimmy Stewart), a risk-taking photographer who is house-bound after breaking his leg in the line of duty shooting a motor race. After weeks of confinement Jeff has taken to spying on his neighbours, a habit carved out of boredom that slowly becomes an obsession.

His voyeuristic activities eventually lead Jeff to believe that one of his neighbours, Thorwald (Raymond Burr) has murdered his nagging wife (interestingly she is also house-bound). Unable to leave the apartment and investigate, Jefferies recruits his socialite girlfriend Lisa (the divine Grace Kelly), as well as his nurse Stella (played wonderfully by Thelma Ritter) to build a case against Thorwald.

Hitchcock generates tension by restricting our perspective to Jefferies’ point of view, meaning we never leave the confines of the apartment. He is unable to directly influence the action outside of the apartment which creates some gloriously nail-biting moments. It also allows us to identify with the perverse sense of empowerment Jefferies gets from watching people.

Scopophilia is a frequent motif in Hitchcock’s work, and this wasn’t the first time he experimented with a conservative film style (see ‘Lifeboat’ and ‘Rope’), but what makes ‘Rear Window’ stand out is the exceptionally tight plotting of events in the main narrative. The film is then peppered with momentary digressions involving the other neighbours in the apartment building. There’s the beautiful Miss Torso, Miss Lonelyhearts, and my personal favourite: the newlyweds. For the most part they don’t contribute to the main plot, but their stories are engaging and add texture to the theme of voyeurism.

This preoccupation with surveillance, along with the limited perspective constantly make the audience question Jefferies and themselves. Did Thorwald really kill his wife, or is Jefferies fooling himself into believing it out of boredom? This doubt undercuts all of the action. Such an uncertain tone is amplified further by the inclusion of gloriously grim humour, something that Ritter has a particular flair for. There’s a great bit where she wonders aloud how Thorwald would get rid of his wife’s body. Going into particularly gruesome detail in a matter-of-fact tone, while Jeff silently grimaces behind her back. It’s the sort of dark humour that Hitchcock is famous for and it works especially well in ‘Rear Window’.

Despite the humour, this is not a film of grand gestures and operatic action. It’s a subdued and relatively passive experience. Even though this is a key component of what makes ‘Rear Window’ so compelling, it may be a turn off for those looking for a slightly more visceral thriller. Nevertheless, now is the perfect time to introduce yourself to one of the most acclaimed films of all time, or to rewatch it, as I have done obsessively over the years. If you’re still not convinced, then all I can say is: at least Truffaut agrees with me.