by Elliot Fogarty

Created on: August 11, 2008   Last Updated: August 12, 2008

You can certainly tell that Rear Window is a classic Hitchcock film: Suspense, tension, mystery, all the statements associated with one of cinemas great auteurs are present, and they all come together to form a gripping piece of cinema.

If Rear Window is initially about one thing, then its scopophilia- pleasure in looking. Laura Mulvey's Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema states that scopophilia can lead to the individual to become fixated into a perversion, producing obsessive voyeurs and Peeping Toms whose only sexual satisfaction can come from watching.' The former is certainly the reaction romantic interest Lisa gives James Stewart's character Jefferies when she knows how frequently and obsessive he is with staring into other people's lives. It is perhaps ironic that the latter point with Jefferies occurs when he watches Lisa- for whom he had little sexual interest in initially- trespassing in Thorwald's room (A man he is convinced is a murderer). As the article states, When she crosses the barrier between his room and the block opposite, their relationship is reborn erotically.'

Writers such as Tania Modleski and Camille Paglia point out that contrary to popular belief, Hitchcock often paints a largely female centered universe. This applies to Rear Window: Despite Jefferies being the main protagonist, it is Lisa and even his cleaner Stella that have the more active roles as they search to investigate the truth to Jefferies' claims, whilst he remains passive and stagnant in his room.

There aren't many films that use one setting for its duration, and it is this attribute that excels so well in Rear Window. It adds a real sense of claustrophobia to proceedings, and gives an indication to the audience as to how Jefferies must be feeling stranded in his room. At no point do we question what Jefferies has been doing, because we know the exact answer. As Mulvey states, with Hitchcock, the male hero does see precisely what the audience sees.' What he does to keep himself busy is in fact a microcosm as to how Hitchcock saw cinema: Jefferies was entertained by peering through a series of windows, and this is what Hitchcock stated film is, which is essentially voyeurism in a literal sense.

One of the associations about a Hitchcock film is a surprising and unexpected twist to his movies. This film does have a twist, and it is quite simply that there is no twist at all. The film's ending is fast paced, the opposite to the very slow, dialogue dominated first part, although these character building scenes ensure that we do care about Jefferies, and admire his determination to catch Thorwald in light of his previous broken man persona.
Jefferies' two broken legs at the finale perhaps symbolises that, just as he was about to leave his life of voyeurism, he is resigned to it once more. Certainly this can apply to the audience and cinema: Just as we feel we are perhaps wearing thin of film, along comes another to keep us hooked and entertained. Hitchcock was always a master at doing that, demonstrated none more so than in this film.

Learn more about this author, Elliot Fogarty.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.