Rear Window (1954) – Classic

Genre: Suspense Thriller

Platform: Amazon Prime – Rent

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Time: 1 hour 47 minutes

Cast:    James Stewart (L.B. Jefferies). Grace Kelly (Lisa Fremont). Thelma Ritter (Stella).  Wendell Corey (Tom Doyle). Raymond Burr (Lars Thorwald)

Plot:  Due to an accident in which his leg was fractured while capturing a motor race accident, photographer Jeffries is confined to his wheelchair for six weeks in an apartment. With nothing to do he observes the neighbourhood through his window and sees various stereotypes. He is convinced that the jewellery salesman in the opposite flat has murdered his invalid wife as he has seen him make mysterious trips in the middle of the night. His girlfriend Lisa and his physiotherapist Stella think he is crazy but soon they too are convinced that something is not right ….

From the early to the late 1980s, I was a member of a film club which showed all the ‘world masters’ such as Kurosawa, Ingmar Berman, Fellini etc . I innocently asked one of the society organisers why they do not show Hitchcock films. He gave me a look that was a cross between disgust and anger. When I persisted , he mumbled something about appropriate 16 mm prints being unavailable .

During the Red Lorry Festival in March this year, I attended the “Directors masterclass” by Sriram Raghavan. Amazingly he narrated a similar incident where during his FTII days, he was ticked off for requesting that Hitchcock films be shown and even included in film studies.  Hitchcock is more or less standard in most Western film schools while I am not sure whether it is taught in Indian film schools .

Because Rear Window remains an amazing example of the craft of film making.

Looking at the film today and judging by the audience response in a recent screening, the film still holds its own and is not at all dated. The audience response was EXACTLY the same as when I saw it three days in a row , forty years ago. A private screening at a friend’s place, the response was exactly the same with the audience letting out gasps at the same places as happened years ago.

So what is it that makes this CLASSIC?

The amazing set design? looking at how tightly the camera moves, it is impossible to believe that whatever Jeff sees from his point of view is actually one gigantic setting filled with amazing characters such as the struggling song writer, ‘Miss Lonelyhearts” – a single somewhat aged woman who is struggling to find a partner, Miss Torso – the well endowed ballet dancer who is trying to find the ‘right man’, a deaf sculptress, Thorwald the jewellery salesman mocked by his invalid wife, an aged childless couple who let down their pet dog every day by a basket , a newlywed couple who rarely open the window once they enter the nearby flat .  And so on.

As mentioned by Donald Spoto in his classic book The Art of Alfred Hitchcock, each of them represents the various possibilities that Jeff and Lisa may end up as – lonely,  embittered couple, childless couple ; as Jeff says “he would welcome trouble at this stage”. And boy does he get it.

Much more than the murder mystery angle is the totally sneaky way in which the film gradually peels away the layers and points out why we love films – basically we are all voyeurs! Stella clearly tells Jeff “we have become a race of peeping Toms; we should go out and take a good look at ourselves’. Since it happens in the film’s beginning most of us may miss that line but it is THE clear connection about film being nothing but scripted voyeurism!

This is sophisticated film making and as with any Hitchcock, the script crackles with wit , sometimes macabrely – when Jeff is about to eat his morning bacon breakfast, Stella looks at Thorwald’s flat and wonders aloud “where would he cut her up ? where could he have done it?’ Needless to say Jeff puts the bacon back on the plate.

Many moments like these pepper the film which remains easily among any top 10 Hitchcock films.

The final word –  WATCH IT  ANYHOW.

PS: With such a terrific story , its no wonder that many have tried to remake it . Some have succeeded while others remain meh! Here are the list of two remakes that I know of:

1. Rear Window (1998) – Christopher Reeve as a paralysed man confined to his wheel chair who is sure he has seen a murder; would love to watch to check out how it turned out. The film is available on You Tube!

2. Disturbia (2008) – A teenager confined to his home with an electronic locker on his foot, is sure he has seen a murder, in the neighboring home. Very gripping.

Script – 5 out of 5

Story – 5 out of 5

Direction – 5 out of 5

Photography – 5 out of 5

Total – 5 out of 5