Dir. Alfred Hitchcock (1954)
Rated PG Rear Window is a suspense film about a man trying to catch a murderer while confined to a wheelchair with a broken leg. L.B. Jeffries (James Stewart) spends everyday watching his neighbors and their daily lives through his window. He is in almost a full body cast, so it is impossible for him to walk or stand or do really anything for himself. His maid, Stella, has to come over everyday to help bathe and feed him. While he is recovering, he starts paying very close attention to his neighbors out of boredom. One is a struggling pianist, who is always writing pieces and getting drunk and then inviting large parties over to hear his new work. Another is a single woman who lives by herself, and she is obviously very lonely. She makes lovely dinners for two and pours two glasses of wine and acts like there is a man on the other side of the table. It's pretty sad. The neighbors he pays the closest attention to are the married couple that live right next to a blonde dancer (who he also enjoys watching). The wife is sick with something that keeps her confined to her bed, and the husband has to care for her. There is obviously some tension in the relationship, they're always seen bickering through their window. One night, Jeffries wakes up in the middle of the night at around 2 AM. He hears glass shatter and a woman screaming. He looks out the window and sees the husband walking out of the apartment with a suitcase. He drifts back asleep and wakes up again to see him entering and leaving his apartment again with the same suitcase. This happens three times. Jeffries automatically suspects that the husband has killed his wife. Over the next couple days, Jeffries watches the husband's movements with a very close eye. The wife is nowhere to be found, and the husband is packing things up in the bedroom and cleaning off a knife and a handsaw. Later, one of the neighbor's dog dies, and everyone comes out to see the commotion except the husband, who is seen lighting a cigar in his dark living room. Jeffries enlists the help of Stella and his girlfriend Lisa (Grace Kelly) to investigate what happened. Jeffries writes a note to the husband, whose name is Thorwald, asking what he did with her (his wife). Jeffries then calls him anonymously and asks him to meet at a bar, while Stella and Lisa go dig up the garden in Thorwald's backyard to look for evidence of the dead dog or the wife. Lisa decides to break into the apartment, finding the wife's wedding ring. This reveals that something definitely happened to Thorwald's wife, because no woman leaves her wedding ring at home. Thorwald comes home and finds Lisa there, and attacks her. Just then, the police show up and arrest Lisa, which saves her from Thorwald. Before she leaves, she flashes the ring at Jeffries, who is watching from his window. Thorwald catches this and finds Jeffries spying on him. He calls Jeffries anonymously, and Jeffries unknowingly answers. Later, Thorwald's footsteps are heard outside of Jeffries' apartment. He comes in, asking Jeffries what he wants. Jeffries attempts to blind Thorwald by flashing his camera right in his face, but Thorwald gets to him and attempts to strangle him and push him out the window. The police show up and save Jeffries, though he now has two broken legs. Thorwald confesses to the police, and the murder is solved. The last scene is the neighborhood at peace with Jeffries sleeping in his wheelchair and Lisa reading a magazine. This was probably my favorite Hitchcock movie so far. There were so many aspects that made this movie incredibly creepy and suspenseful. The constant opera and piano music coming from one of the neighbors, the scene in the middle of the night when Thorwald murders his wife, Thorwald in his dark living room lighting a cigar after the dog has been found dead. All of these scenes were so perfect for a suspense movie. I think Hitchcock does an amazing job of filming the scenes where the most suspense happens, such as a murder, because it is always silent and the camera zooms in or pans right in on the murderer/the thing that is being done. Even though his movies are older, they're still the best thriller and suspense movies that I have seen. I think the older cameras and settings/sounds/lighting add to the aesthetic of the thriller movie.I liked this movie the best out of all the Hitchcock movies so far because of the way it was filmed. Watching the murderer from a distance and a different point of view through a window made it 10 times creepier. I also like how the murderer wasn't handsome or charismatic like they are in so many of Hitchcock's movies, he was kind of dorky and awkward and had a beer belly. I found the scene where Jeffries is flashing his camera in Thorwald's eyes pretty entertaining. The movie also had a super great ending, mostly because the lonely woman ends up with the musician (AW). So, yeah, I really loved this movie. I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good thriller, because this was probably one of my favorites.
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AuthorCasey Land Archives
January 2018
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