My initial interest with Rear Window started when I heard that Alfred Hitchcock is the director. Since I started taking film classes at Dickinson three years ago, he was one the first directors I learned about and has been mentioned in nearly all my film classes. Rightfully so, his 1960 film “Psycho” is one of the most studied films of all time (the shower scene specifically). It is palatable and easy to recognize in films since its time. In 2021 a movie called “The Woman in the Window” was released (screenplay of AJ Finn’s 2018 novel), so naturally this was heavy on my mind. In that story, an agoraphobiac (Anna) does not leave her apartment. She watches her neighbors for entertainment, and believes she witnesses a crime occur in their apartment, also through means of a camera. This is one of many stories inspired from a peeping tom narrator. Something that really interested me in Rear Window is the lack of scenery. The only setting the audience has for two hours is Mr. Jefferies’ apartment and what he can see from his back window. I think it works because he focuses on a handful of neighbors, so that provides the viewer small breaks from Jefferies’ life and think about the others. Hitchcock also directs with many subtleties in his films. I noticed the music in Rear Window, specifically in the first half, was mostly upbeat and just slightly nuanced. Having nonchalant music during a scene like when Thorwald is out all night with his suitcase, as opposed to no music or something playing that is explicitly daunting, tries to trick the viewer. It changes the context of the scene and tries to play with the audience to make them second guess themselves, if what they’re seeing is really the situation of the scene. This adds suspense to his films. In “Psycho” Norman Bates shows small facial expressions of anger and lack of control over himself. But, when he talks, he is polite and can conversate with others.
4 thoughts on “Rear Window: Template for the Future”
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I took note of many of the same elements of Rear Window as you have noted here, especially the music and the settings. I think that these facets of the direction are extremely interesting when we are reminded by Greg Smith that everything in a film is purposeful. There are so many possibilities to explore for these stylistic choices, but I think that especially for the lack of sound, it makes for an eerie proximity to reality. When we normally watch films, we expect background music because it is what we have come to know. Yet, when it is not there, it feels much closer to real life. Perhaps this is to prevent the viewer from not straying too far from the relationship between the film and their own life. I’m interested about the last point you made at the end of your reflection when you bring up Psycho. I’ve never seen the film, but I wonder whether that distance between his expressions and his actions were symptomatic of something. I wonder what really causes the viewer to second guess themselves.
I know comparing Hitchcock films have been done to death, especially analyzing Psycho compared to one of his other works and how it Hitchcock operates as a director in both. Despite that, I still would’ve loved to hear some of your take, especially as a first time Hitchcock viewer how you might see his influences in film today, as you mention another movie that borrows from the iconic Psycho scene. It’s super fun always looking for how (un)consciously directors are often influenced by Hitchcock in various ways, even in genres you wouldn’t expect!
Julia- I totally agree with a lot of your observations about Rear Window and Hitchcock’s style. I also noticed and focused on his use of sound in the film- as there were hardly ever moments of silence or stillness although we were in one apartment for almost the whole time. It really helped to contextualize the “one room” as an apartment within the middle of a large city with traffic and people and white noise, and I think the soundscapes were so crucial to feeling immersed as a viewer and like we were in the apartment with Jefferies. I appreciated your note about how the jaunty music continues as Thornwald murders his wife, and knowing this, the music adds some humor as well!
The point made in this blog post concerning the lack of scenery in the film, Rear Window, is an observation that I had as well. Limiting the audience’s knowledge seems to be a trend in this film, causing us to be even more immersed in the plot, as we are unable to view or know anything that Jeffries does not see or state. This was a surprising decision to me, since the production put so much effort and time into creating the set, but it did not end up being utilized as much as I thought it would be.