Summary Of Rear Window By Alfred Hitchcock: A Master Of Suspense

The Master of Suspense
“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.” Alfred Hitchcock said so eloquently. He was not the man of horror, mystery or sudden shock—no, Alfred Hitchcock was a man of suspense. He understood the mind and how the anticipation of something was even more fearful than the unknowing. Hitchcock, to this day, will remain one of the most phenomenal directors of all time because of his keen eye for creativity in the simplest of forms. He created art out of the “artless.” Most importantly, he created suspense from lighting, building up nerve-racking situations, and the use of his directing and filming skills. The film Rear Window is no exception to this.
Hitchcock created one of the most suspenseful
films in one small setting for the entirety of the film. His creativity made it possible for this film to obtain greatness. Rear Window is shot from James Stewart’s character L.B. Jeffries apartment during the whole film, and yet, Alfred Hitchcock keeps you on your toes. He does not do it by sudden shock; he merely lets you know what is coming, and the audience does the rest. When directors use sudden shock as a tactic, they give the audience now hints, and scare the audience with an abrupt “attack.” Hitchcock’s films should also not be categorized under mystery film. His films are not mysterious because he lets his audience know from the beginning what is to happen. His style does not reflect that of the “unknown.” His style is a more artistic bluntness, and that is why people loved his films so much. They were more honest.
Alfred Hitchcock liked the idea of manipulating his audience by allowing them to know everything that is happening. This added to their nervous state. By knowing that someone is coming, the audience is afraid for the characters. They feel themselves trying to reach out—to warn them—about what is soon to come. Hitchcock was a master at this; he forced so many emotions out of anyone who was willing to watch his films.
Rear Window makes you uncomfortable right from the start with the concept of being watched, as well as being the watcher. Hitchcock begins the film with shots of Jeffries’ neighbors in their private settings. The audience sees everything from Jeffries’ view, and it is shocking to the extent of what he sees. The neighbors are completely unaware of how much of what they are doing is being watched. The audience, at many points, puts themselves in the neighbor’s shoes and realizes how someone could be watching them and they would never know. Hitchcock makes the film eerie from the start, which genuinely sets the mood for the rest of the film.
Another tactic Hitchcock uses is the vantage point of Jeffries. His apartment is set above all others, which makes it the “bird’s eye view.” This makes it less conspicuous while he is completely spying on his neighbors. Although it is immoral by society’s standards to spy on someone, Jeffries continues to do it, even when others remind him of this immorality. In multiple scenes, Jeffries tries to defend his spying. When he finally sees the suspicious acts of Thorwald, he uses it as complete justification for his actions.
This first glimpse of suspicion begins when Jeffries falls asleep and is awakened by screams. He then witnesses Thorwald walking in and out of his apartment several times during the middle of the night. After these events happen, Jeffries begins spying even more, which gets him involved even more with wrongdoing. After Jeffries sees this happen, other small things he observes lead him to a suspicion that Thorwald killed his wife. Because Jeffries is cooped up in his apartment, he becomes obsessed with watching Thorwald.
Hitchcock uses Jeffries obsession to capture the audience’s attention and obsession. The audience is unsure if what Jeffries is seeing is truthful or a figment of his imagination. Because of this, they watch Thorwald’s every move along with Jeffries. They anticipate something unusual to happen that will prove that Thorwald indeed killed his wife. Because the audience is already attentive to the fact that Thorwald may have killed his wife, they are already on their toes, knowing that they are witnessing, quite possibly, the aftermath of a murder.
After Thorwald wraps up the mattress and packs something up in a big box, the suspense begins. Everything speeds up at that point and becomes more and more eerie. Although deep down the audience believes Thorwald did it, others simplify what happened and try to make understanding of what happened, as well, which sways the mind back and forth between belief and disbelief of what occurred. Hitchcock likes to mind trick his audience into being unsure of what is happening in the film—the truth is always hidden.
After all has been set up, the detective who Jeffries worked with while he was taking documentarian photos overseas informs both Jeffries and Lisa that there is a logical explanation for everything that Thorwald has been up to. He tells them everything that he found out, and once again, the audience’s minds have been swayed. Hitchcock continuously mind tricks the audience until something big happens. This monumental scene is when Jeffries’ neighbor’s dog is killed. The dog had previously snooped around in Thorwald’s garden, and was then coincidentally killed. After this moment, the audience has no doubt that Thorwald is guilty.
After the audience is sure of Thorwald’s actions, the suspense begins.
Hitchcock then tosses suspenseful scenes one after the other. It begins with Lisa delivering a note to Thorwald that Jeffries wrote stating that he knew what he had done. The camera usage and stage setup are key to the suspense in this scene. Because the camera is set up in Jeffries apartment, the audience gets a wide view of both the top and bottom floors of the apartment. Lisa ends up hiding behind walls and doorways to avoid collision with Thorwald. The directing is phenomenal in this scene. Knowing that any minute a killer could catch Lisa keeps the audience’s stomach in knots. It is also nerve-racking that Jeffries is watching this, and if anything were to happen, he would be helpless to save
her.
The next suspenseful scene is shortly after the previous one. Lisa and Stella, Jeffries private nurse, seek out to find what was in the garden in front of the apartment complex. This is the same garden that the dog, that was previously killed, was snooping around. Once they arrive at the garden, they find nothing buried in it. Because Lisa has caught Jeffries obsession, she takes it a step further by breaking into Thorwald’s home. Hitchcock, once again, uses his set to create the most extreme suspense. The audience sees Thorwald walking to the apartment, as they watch Lisa prying around in his apartment. Because the audience already knows that Thorwald had killed his wife, it adds much more to the suspense. Hitchcock uses layers to accumulate more and more suspense throughout the film. Because of this technique, the more the audience watches of the film, the more they fear for Lisa’s life. They now know what he is capable of and yearn for her to escape.
As all of this is happening, the camera constantly turns back to Jeffries, which is another method of Hitchcock’s. Not only is the audience watching, but Jeffries is doing the same, as well. The audience sees his reaction, and in return, they have the same. No matter the emotion Jeffries is feeling, by turning back to him, the audience is prone to feel the same.
The next scene is a trigger for suspense.
After the police escort Lisa from Thorwald’s apartment, Thorwald finally notices that he has been watched. He realizes someone has seen all of his actions—good and bad. He, for the first time, makes eye contact with Jeffries. Once the audience sees this, sheer panic runs through them. They know Thorwald will come for Jeffries, and the anticipation of it is painful. The peak of suspense happens with Jeffries sitting in the dark in his bedroom awaiting the arrival of Thorwald. It continues with Thorwald entering the bedroom. Hitchcock directed the most brilliant part of the film by this point. After Thorwald enters the room, Jeffries uses his flash of his camera to slow the process of Thorwald getting to him. The audience knows he will eventually reach Jeffries, but they do not know how long it will
take.
Not only do the actions of the actors affect the suspense the audience feels, but also, the lighting is key. Because Rear Window is an Alfred Hitchcock film, many of the scenes are quite dark. Hitchcock uses this to have a more unnerving feeling. He uses the shadows to dramatize what was happening. If the same scenes were to happen with bright lighting, the feeling would be completely off. Hitchcock knows how the mind works, and uses little tricks to add to a sensation. For example, when Jeffries is in his bedroom waiting for Thorwald to enter, it is very dark. The most the audience can see is the expression on both Jeffries and Thorwald’s face. He uses this a suspense method—the less one sees, the more attentive they are.
Alfred Hitchcock used many different strategies to create the ultimate suspense film, and he more than succeeded. He used his directing skills, vantage points, camera techniques, and lighting to woo the audience with how suspenseful he could make a film, and it worked. He will go down in history as being the best director for suspense, because he brought something new to people that they had never quite experienced. Because of these tactics and all of his creativity, he will always be known as “the Master of Suspense.”