Summary
A wheelchair-bound photographer and his girlfriend believe they might’ve stumbled upon a murder.
My Thoughts:
Rear Window is one of Alfred Hitchcock's more famously known films; when thinking of Hitchcock, people tend to think of this, "Psycho" and "Vertigo", and while I think the latter two are more veteran Hitchcock films- ones that viewers who are already well versed in Hitchcockian tend to enjoy the most- Rear Window is quite the opposite, this has just about everything that makes one of his films truly special, but it doesn’t really test the audience in terms of tension. It's a simple story about Jeff (James Stewart, “Anatomy of a Murder”), a professional photographer who gets injured and wheelchair bound for seven weeks, left to people watch from rear apartment window. What starts as a casual and not-at-all-creepy hobby, turns sinister when Jeff and his not-too-young-for-him girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly, “To Catch a Thief”) witness a brutal murder across the way, after that it's up to them to try and catch the man before he leaves town. It's a quick, sharply written and sometimes intense tale about caution and of course, murder.
“Rear Window”, and many other Hitchcock thrillers do a fantastic job and giving the audience the layout of the film; for instance we know very quickly what perspective we'll be seeing this film from, and largely a lot of it through Jeff's camera lens, which the cinematography captures so well and so beautifully, panning across the detailed apartments, feeling so alive with their tenants, some calling to each other, some dancing in their rooms, others lowering their beloved pet pooch down to the ground with a makeshift pulley system. It's a great looking film that pays a keen eye to detail, and it begs the audience to as well, as we are peeping in on the neighbors right along with Jeff, and are also a witness to the suspected man who murdered his wife and, we are led to suspect, is now taking her piece by piece to hide in the late hours of the night. It's wonderfully macabre, albeit the execution is tame by today's standards. Regardless, it's a clever and engaging way to keep the audience reeled in, and one that has spawned many copycats.
Now rewatching this after so many years, I wanted it to be perfect, but unfortunately it just isn't quite at the caliber of his other more recognizable titles, this film is very much stuck in its time, and there are flashes of Hitchcock's misogyny sprinkled throughout this movies, such as Jeff constantly gawking at the half naked woman across the way, or his fascination with the two lovers constantly going at it. A couple shots for establishment is fine, but at times it becomes excessive and obvious. My only other real problem is the end of the film, it lacks a lot of subversion that Hitchcock has become famous for, there's hints of it in this, but it's pretty straight forward, and it's simply not cathartic and feels flat, the camera effects are nice (probably mind blowing at the time) during the confrontation, but it's basically, Jeff figures out killer, killer gets found, and killer gets caught.
What “Rear Window” lacks in twists, it makes up for with intensity, Jeff with the help of Lisa and his insurance nurse Stella (Thelma Ritter, “All About Eve”- the funniest character in the movie), develop a plan to get the killer caught, Lisa daringly goes across to the apartment to find evidence, all filmed from the perspective of Jeff's camera, as if we too can only watch as Lisa is nearly caught by the murderer, it's a tense and exciting climax, if ultimately unrewarding, although the pay off with the suicide attempt is a nice touch, and a great example of just how intentive to his characters Hitchcock was, even the ones Jeff was peeping on have arches that get completed, so while I didn't find the main climax to be fulfilling I thoroughly enjoyed all the silent narratives going on outside of the murder. The whole film feels alive and that's a true testament to Alfred's craft.
Overall Rear Window may not be my favorite Hitchcock film, but it's still a timely classic thriller with a lot of influential material that has been passed down for years and years, there's an obvious reason why he's hailed as the master of suspense, he knows his style and he owns it proudly, wearing it right on his sleeve. I would say this is one of the best films for a newcomer of Hitchcock, and it has pretty much everything that makes a Hitchcock film just that, it has beautiful style and revealing cinematography, making the camera its own character, fully fleshed out characters that are built slowly from the beginning, and of course plenty of intensity and suspense revolving around this brutal murder mystery. It's sharp script helps elevate some of the more dated, for the times sort of material, which there's a decent amount here. And while the ending didn't satisfy me, it still has plenty of closure and a pretty cool final confrontation between the killer and Jeff, all led by fine performances which makes Rear Window a treat to watch every time.
I give Rear Window 4 stars out of 5.
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