Rear Window – 1954, Alfred Hitchcock
Watching this again for this review we said “They don’t make films like this anymore.” And it’s absolutely true. That’s not to say they’re worse, but you’d never see a major director make a film like ‘Rear Window’ today. It’s just not done. Hitchcock takes his time, he camera hovers between lots of small characters and their small subplots with a perfect sense of how much to give the audience. A film about the voyeur, someone who watches but never interacts, is one of the few perfectly cinematic concepts. I was all set to write how ‘Rear Window’ is a perfect piece of cinema, impossible to translate to another medium. Of course I then remembered it was taken from a short story, but it’s so unbelievable. ‘Rear Window’ must be seen and heard, not merely told. Movement, music, performance, they’re not just important they’re integral to this film. Stewart is excellent as the photographer, so used to globe trotting, now trapped by a broken leg in his two bedroom apartment, with nothing but girlfriend Grace Kelly and the neighbours across the courtyard to keep him company. He watches all of them, due to a heat wave they have no problems keeping their windows wide open, and their contrasts and characters drive the film. Kelly is also fantastic, she develops from quite sheltered, into a woman looking to prove she can handle herself in a dangerous situation as the potential Mrs. Jefferson. What she says about the mystery sounds like it’s been torn from the pages of a crime novel; she is in part, making it up. The script is very dense; the dialogue is layered and full of meaning, both in metaphor and symbolism. Thankfully, while due analysis, the film doesn’t drown in this symbolism and is enjoyable as the mystery it is on the surface. The audience share the position of helplessness with the main character, we too are doomed to watch but not act. ‘Rear Window’ makes me look at myself when watching a film, and I see how cut off I am. I’m watching all this drama but I’m numb to it. It’s a shame to loose that connection with a film, the deep emotional position with the events. ‘Rear Window’, on a personal level, reminds me to get into what I’m watching and to enjoy the experience, not to disconnect what I see so clinically.
Best Moment: The ending is the best, a single shot to tie together the characters we’ve watched and felt for, including Stewart. Not a full blown happily ever after, but a recovery at the very least.
Watching this again for this review we said “They don’t make films like this anymore.” And it’s absolutely true. That’s not to say they’re worse, but you’d never see a major director make a film like ‘Rear Window’ today. It’s just not done. Hitchcock takes his time, he camera hovers between lots of small characters and their small subplots with a perfect sense of how much to give the audience. A film about the voyeur, someone who watches but never interacts, is one of the few perfectly cinematic concepts. I was all set to write how ‘Rear Window’ is a perfect piece of cinema, impossible to translate to another medium. Of course I then remembered it was taken from a short story, but it’s so unbelievable. ‘Rear Window’ must be seen and heard, not merely told. Movement, music, performance, they’re not just important they’re integral to this film. Stewart is excellent as the photographer, so used to globe trotting, now trapped by a broken leg in his two bedroom apartment, with nothing but girlfriend Grace Kelly and the neighbours across the courtyard to keep him company. He watches all of them, due to a heat wave they have no problems keeping their windows wide open, and their contrasts and characters drive the film. Kelly is also fantastic, she develops from quite sheltered, into a woman looking to prove she can handle herself in a dangerous situation as the potential Mrs. Jefferson. What she says about the mystery sounds like it’s been torn from the pages of a crime novel; she is in part, making it up. The script is very dense; the dialogue is layered and full of meaning, both in metaphor and symbolism. Thankfully, while due analysis, the film doesn’t drown in this symbolism and is enjoyable as the mystery it is on the surface. The audience share the position of helplessness with the main character, we too are doomed to watch but not act. ‘Rear Window’ makes me look at myself when watching a film, and I see how cut off I am. I’m watching all this drama but I’m numb to it. It’s a shame to loose that connection with a film, the deep emotional position with the events. ‘Rear Window’, on a personal level, reminds me to get into what I’m watching and to enjoy the experience, not to disconnect what I see so clinically.
Best Moment: The ending is the best, a single shot to tie together the characters we’ve watched and felt for, including Stewart. Not a full blown happily ever after, but a recovery at the very least.
