Rear Window (Alfred Hitchcock) --- Movie Review #JPMN

• Rear Window (1954) - Uncomplicated developments, but still enthralling, 7/10.

~~ Movie Night ~~
Your host, and film critic Jonathan Paula reviews everything from opening day releases, recent DVDs, upcoming trailers, and classics from years past. Each "Quick Review" is an excerpt from a full episode, which airs on the Jogwheel channel every week.

~~ Watch More Reviews ~~

~~ Other Channels ~~

~~ Social Media & Merch ~~

~~ Credits ~~
Created by ------ Jonathan Paula
Camera ---------- Panasonic HMC-150
Microphone ----- Sennheiser ME 66
Software --------- Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2015

• Jogwheel Productions © 2016 •

~~ Truncated Script ~~

An anxious experience that invites participation. Based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich, this mystery thriller by director Alfred Hitchcock earned 36-times its $1 million dollar budget, scored four Academy Award nominations, and is widely regarded as one of the best movies ever made. But even after seeing it twice, I remain unconvinced of its greatness.

One of Hitchock's trademarks was his frequent use of point-of-view camera movement, a technique which forced the audience to engage in a form of voyeurism. You saw what his characters saw, even if it wasn't always comfortable. And there's no purer form of first-person-voyeurism than in this 1954 motion picture. Watching someone - without their awareness - can feel taboo, but it's also intrinsically fascinating. They don't necessarily have to be engaging in sexual or explicit activities, but it certainly makes things more interesting.

...

Jimmy Stewart stars as a wheelchair-confined photographer, who spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder. And although every scene he witnesses seems sinister and dangerous, the script is quick to provide alternate explanations, as if to discredit itself, and play Stewart off as a 'boy who cried wolf'. Like when police detective Wendell Corey remarks, "People do a lot of things in private they couldn't possibly explain in public." Unfortunately, "Rear Window" never really does anything with this nagging counter-suspicion. Those waiting for a twist or reveal... will be disappointed that the plot concludes without either.

Mixing concern with exposition, the dialogue functions as a sort of running commentary for the picture, with Grace Kelly featured as the dutiful (and beautiful) girlfriend - who serves as Stewart's willing accomplice. When she's confronted by the suspected-murderer while on a fact-finding visit to his flat, the audience feels just as helpless as the laid-up protagonist.

Filmed in bright technicolor, the 112-minute film makes excellent use of its confined location. Remarkably, the camera never leaves Stewart's apartment; but with a multitude of angles, focal lengths, and color-changes, Hitchcock keeps things from becoming repetitive or claustrophobic. Which is even more impressive considering the movie doesn't have a score - all we hear are the diegetic sounds, noises, and music coming from this crowded Greenwich Village complex. The building themselves of course were all part of a massive set specially built inside the Paramount studio - which included at least 1,000 arc lights to mimic sunshine, functioning plumbing, and six-stories of fully furnished fake-apartments.

Perhaps "Rear Window's" most effective accomplishment is how it imprints Stewart's uncomfortable emotions onto the viewer. What begins with guilt soon transforms to anxiety and fear, and later, obligation and heroism. Despite its decidedly uncomplicated and convenient developments, "Rear Window" is a surprisingly enthralling experience - and a COOL movie.
~

[michaelcoffey]

my third favorite Hitchcock films who is the g.o.a.t to us here. Glad to see someone trying to bring the classics to the youngest new movie fans.

[Agressifkid]

just watched le movie then need some review

[DC-zise]

Yeah, the ending seemed flat and abrupt.