Light in the movie Rear Window is used in a very interesting way. The film starts and ends when it is light outside, but a majority of the action takes place at night. Mrs. Thorwald’s murder, the discovery of the death of the dog, Lisa breaking into Mr. Thorwald’s apartment, and the fight between Jefferies and Thorwald leading to Thorwald’s arrest all happen while it is dark outside. There are also instances where unnatural lighting is used to either punctuate scenes, or to even save the protagonist’s life.
When Lisa is first introduced in the movie, she states her full name and punctuates each separate name by turning on one of Jefferies’ lights (16:58). In general, Jefferies keeps his lights off so that he cannot be seen through the window but it also means he cannot see as much within his own apartment. The light acts as a way for Lisa to either be seen or be ignored. Her turning on the lights in the beginning of the movie forces Jefferies to see her. If the lights are on, she is much harder to ignore. When he tells her to turn the lights off, she becomes essentially invisible to him because the people on the other side of his window are more important to him than the woman who feeds him and takes care of him. In Jefferies’ point of view, Lisa’s light is a distraction from the more interesting goings ons of the people outside.
Jefferies also uses light as a way to distract and temporarily blind Thorwald. He uses the light bulb flashes from his camera as a sort of flash bang to try to buy him time before Thorwald can attack him (01:48:20). In this moment, Jefferies recognizes the importance of light and uses it to save his own life.
I really enjoyed reading your insights about light’s use in Rear Window. You clearly laid out lots of effective uses that both advance the narratological and thematic uses of light throughout the movie. I’d love to hear more about how this use of light effects audience perception of the characters, or maybe characterological or affective undertones. Especially for Lisa, as light plays a big role in her development throughout the film and your findings already map out a lot of these developments already in motion!