Summary of the Film
Rear Window is a classic Alfred Hitchcock movie. The main Character Jeff (James Stewart) invites us into his world of voyeurism. He is a photographer, but recently broke his leg on a job. Now, he is confined to a wheel chair with nothing to do during the day but watch through his window into the windows of the lives of his neighbors. During the day, his nurse comes, and at night, his “too perfect” girlfriend visits. Jeff enjoys watching his neighbors the ballerina, the musician, the newlyweds, and most importantly the salesman and his wife who fight relentlessly; she was restricted to her bedroom and she nagged him constantly. One day, she disappears and that is when Jeff becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to her.
Jeff is concerned Mr. Thorvald killed his wife. Jeff gets himself into trouble, as well as with his nurse and soon to be fiancé. Just when you think you have the mystery solved, Hitchcock throws more suspicious activity in a different direction and makes you question yourself. The ending definitely keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. The audience really feels as if they are creeping in on other people’s lives. We all know it is wrong, but we cannot help it; it is like trying to look away from a train wreck. It is one of the best first horror movies of all time. Tried to be redone many times, the most resent being Disturbia with Shia LaBeouf, made in 2007.
How Hitchcock Hooked Us
Alfred Hitchcock was able to portray horror by starting out with a normal real life situation: man in wheel chair gets bored and watches outside his window, like the classic neighborhood snoop would do. Then, the harmless watching turns into someone’s worst nightmare, a murder. But it doesn’t cause fear in the audience, so much as it does excitement. When his cop friend tries to rationally explain Mr. Thorvald actions, the characters, as well as the audience are disappointed. Don’t we all want a good mystery to solve as long as we don’t have to be involved or be in danger? All the clues point to murder (a saw, expensive jewelry left behind, long distance phone calls, and something buried in the garden). Can these all be just be Jeff's mind playing tricks on him? Jeff sees what he wants to see, and we see what he wants us to see.
Hitchcock’s use of lighting turns the movie into the horror he is so genius at making. Towards the end, when Thorvald comes into Jeff’s apartment, the suspense is almost unbearable. The footsteps coming up the stairs seem to take forever. Jeff doesn’t know where to go or where to hide because he is in a wheelchair. He grabs his flashbulbs for his camera and sits in the dark by the window. When Thorvald reaches the door, he opens it slowly, and it creeks. When he comes through the door, he looks huge, and all that can be seen is his dark silhouette. He comes half way into the light and his face looks menacing. He walks slowly towards Jeff and Jeff starts to use the flashbulbs on him. Hitchcock makes us see what Thorvald sees. First, he is blinded and then everything has a red tint to it. Thorvald grabs Jeff and holds him outside the window. I don’t want to ruin the movie, so I will leave it at that. But, I will say: I watch a lot of scary movies and this is one of the best ones I’ve seen.
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