And now for the second film-based presentation blog (the first one was on ‘Exposition‘)… Once again I return to Rear Window for a look at Hitchcock’s mastery of building step-by-step arguments for change. As I have said before, every presentation is an argument for change. And Rear Window is no different. While on the surface Rear Window is a suspenseful thriller about bringing a murderer to justice, beneath all the edge-of-seat suspense Hitchcock explores the complexity of relationships between men and women. Hitchcock was obsessed with this and it is at at the core of many of his movies: Vertigo, North by Northwest, Dial M for Murder, Strangers on a Train, Marnie, Notorious, and Rebecca.
Rear Window is much more than a simple suspense movie.
In Rear Window Hitchcock has created a vast array of supporting characters who live in the apartments that Jeff watches while he recovers from his broken leg. Each of these characters works on various aspects of their relationships with the opposite sex. Like the voyeur he most certainly is, Jeff is intimately familiar with the lives of his neighbors. He comments caustically and nervously on them as he works on his relationship with his girlfriend Lisa.
The arguments pro and con flow seamlessly across the breadth of the movie and are traced in great detail. Once you are aware of them Rear Window becomes a very different kind of movie – much more a philosophical and psychological exploration than a simple crime movie. Take a look below at my analysis.
