Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window is a mystery and thriller that leaves audiences in a constant state of suspense. Rear Window opens by showing photographs of high risk environments hanging on a wall of an apartment. This leads one to believe that whoever owns the apartment lives a high risk and adventurous life. However, once the broken camera is shown, it is understood that the main character, L.B Jefferies, is a photographer before it is stated through dialogue in the film.
Early into the film we meet Stella, Jefferies’ nurse. Their conversation foreshadows the events that happen later in the movie. Stella tells Jefferies’ that if he keeps staring out the window, he might see things he should not see. This leaves the audience wondering each
time we see out the window if something will appear that we should not see.
In class, we talked about the transition from silent films to those that include sound. It is interesting how sound was used in this film. Sound layering was very apparent as you can hear the neighbors in the background of conversations between the main characters. The use of sound helped create a sense of distance, as the conversations from apartments across from Jefferies’ were quiet as if we were hearing them from his perspective.
Hitchcock creates many layers of suspense. One of these is an unusual suspense created by vaguely hearing neighbors’ conversations. We yearn to know what is happening and to hear the full conversation. We are left wondering what was said between individuals. For example, we hear a faint, undisguisable conversation between a wife and husband followed by the wife’s laughter. It makes the audience wonder what was said in the conversation to evoke her laughter.
Hitchcock does an excellent job of putting us in the place of the main character and making us feel what he is feeling.
He uses the camera as Jefferies’ point of view frequently. We are put into the place of Jefferies through these point of view shots, panning from apartment to apartment and viewing through binoculars and his camera lens. This gets us familiar with the neighbors and causes us to identify with them. You feel like part of the neighborhood and know the personality and lifestyle of each person. This ability to put ourselves in Jefferies’ place also helps create suspense. We feel as if the camera is our own eyes so when Thorwald, the man suspected of murder, disappears from his apartment at the end of the film and walks into Jefferies’ room we feel as if we are the ones in danger. The use of lighting in this scene is also very compelling as the shadows are darker than the other times when the lights in the apartment are off. This allows Jefferies’ to hide completely in the shadows where we just see his silhouette and Thorwald’s eyes are the only part of his face lit, not allowing you to look anywhere else. The use of the orange circle after the flash bulb created by Jefferies is an interesting way for us to get Thorwald’s perspective.
At the very ending of Rear Window, shots are sped up to convey a frantic feel to the film. This however threw me off as the rest of the movie gave off such a great sense of suspense and the quick shots at the end felt more like comedy
rather than suspense. However, Rear Window was a chilling suspense that through the cinematography left me sitting at the edge of my seat.