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Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1954)
I think you'll find that as I finally delve into Alfred Hitchcock's filmography this week (I will be watching and reviewing 7 of his films) you will see a whole lot of me raving about how incredible these movies are (to nobody's surprise, as so far everything I've seen from him has been truly magnificent). I know it sometimes seems redundant to say 'I loved this movie' and such especially when it comes to these films which are already lauded universally as among the greatest ever made, but I really can't help myself. So far these films are absolute masterpieces in every sense of the word. Rear Window is no different, and is certainly my favorite so far.
Rear Window is a story about a man named LB Jefferies who, after suffering a broken leg that leaves him incapacitated and stuck in his apartment, uses a camera with a telephoto lens that allows him to peer through windows to see into the personal lives of his neighbors. During this process, he sees things go on in an apartment across the street that makes him believe a murder may have been committed. As the story unfolds we are left to watch the story unfold in bits and pieces as we can see through the perspective Jefferies, who soon gets his girlfriend Lisa and his nurse Stella sucked into the mystery with him.
The way in which Hitchcock has the narrative unfold is brilliant, innovative, and entirely unique. Leaving us essentially trapped in the apartment to only see from the perspective of Jefferies heightens the suspense of the film in how the story unfolds and Jefferies, and thus we the viewers, piece together what has happened. Hitchcock uses this technique of storytelling masterfully in how it is shot (the intercuts between Jefferies and what he is seeing in his camera) as well as how it is written, with the dialogue being used sparsely and only when necessary allowing the visuals to tell the story, which helps to build on the tension of the story further. Hitchcock's use of diegetic sound (sound which is not scoring the film, but actually exists in what is going on in the shot) also helps to build the atmosphere of the film.
This is the most thematically strong film I've seen of Hitchcock's. It touches on themes of the perverse and voyeuristic tendencies we all have, and the limits of personal privacy. These themes are ever-prevalent to this day, as personal safety vs personal liberty as it pertains to the government is an ongoing topic of debate today, with so much information readily available as technology has progressed, and also governments have become more invasive of personal privacy as the result of terror attacks such as 9/11 inciting great fear in citizens for their safety. As Stella says in the opening of the film "We've become a race of Peeping Toms." The film also touches on themes of marriage and commitment, as Lisa wants desperately to get Jefferies to marry her, but he doesn't think they're right for each other, that she is too perfect and he is too rugged. In Jefferies' observation of his neighbors he is seeing marriage in it's different forms: from the excited newlyweds pulling down the blinds in their new apartment to the bickering older couple who can no longer conceal their loathing for one another. And it isn't until he confronts the absolute worst case scenario of marriage that he is able to come to terms with settling down.
Overall, Rear Window is a fantastic, suspenseful, thrilling, entertaining, and deep film with an engaging story, interesting characters, and some of the best suspense ever put on screen, while also being equally brilliant on a technical level and in the uniqueness of the concept behind it. I absolutely loved Rear Window, and it is one of the best films I have ever seen.
Rating:
The next movie I will be reviewing is...
North By Northwest
2- Rear Window
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1954)
I think you'll find that as I finally delve into Alfred Hitchcock's filmography this week (I will be watching and reviewing 7 of his films) you will see a whole lot of me raving about how incredible these movies are (to nobody's surprise, as so far everything I've seen from him has been truly magnificent). I know it sometimes seems redundant to say 'I loved this movie' and such especially when it comes to these films which are already lauded universally as among the greatest ever made, but I really can't help myself. So far these films are absolute masterpieces in every sense of the word. Rear Window is no different, and is certainly my favorite so far.
Rear Window is a story about a man named LB Jefferies who, after suffering a broken leg that leaves him incapacitated and stuck in his apartment, uses a camera with a telephoto lens that allows him to peer through windows to see into the personal lives of his neighbors. During this process, he sees things go on in an apartment across the street that makes him believe a murder may have been committed. As the story unfolds we are left to watch the story unfold in bits and pieces as we can see through the perspective Jefferies, who soon gets his girlfriend Lisa and his nurse Stella sucked into the mystery with him.
The way in which Hitchcock has the narrative unfold is brilliant, innovative, and entirely unique. Leaving us essentially trapped in the apartment to only see from the perspective of Jefferies heightens the suspense of the film in how the story unfolds and Jefferies, and thus we the viewers, piece together what has happened. Hitchcock uses this technique of storytelling masterfully in how it is shot (the intercuts between Jefferies and what he is seeing in his camera) as well as how it is written, with the dialogue being used sparsely and only when necessary allowing the visuals to tell the story, which helps to build on the tension of the story further. Hitchcock's use of diegetic sound (sound which is not scoring the film, but actually exists in what is going on in the shot) also helps to build the atmosphere of the film.
This is the most thematically strong film I've seen of Hitchcock's. It touches on themes of the perverse and voyeuristic tendencies we all have, and the limits of personal privacy. These themes are ever-prevalent to this day, as personal safety vs personal liberty as it pertains to the government is an ongoing topic of debate today, with so much information readily available as technology has progressed, and also governments have become more invasive of personal privacy as the result of terror attacks such as 9/11 inciting great fear in citizens for their safety. As Stella says in the opening of the film "We've become a race of Peeping Toms." The film also touches on themes of marriage and commitment, as Lisa wants desperately to get Jefferies to marry her, but he doesn't think they're right for each other, that she is too perfect and he is too rugged. In Jefferies' observation of his neighbors he is seeing marriage in it's different forms: from the excited newlyweds pulling down the blinds in their new apartment to the bickering older couple who can no longer conceal their loathing for one another. And it isn't until he confronts the absolute worst case scenario of marriage that he is able to come to terms with settling down.
Overall, Rear Window is a fantastic, suspenseful, thrilling, entertaining, and deep film with an engaging story, interesting characters, and some of the best suspense ever put on screen, while also being equally brilliant on a technical level and in the uniqueness of the concept behind it. I absolutely loved Rear Window, and it is one of the best films I have ever seen.
Rating:
The next movie I will be reviewing is...
North By Northwest