Adam Cook’s review published on Letterboxd:
Although most recent critical attention has been reserved for Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo, thanks to its vertiginous placement atop Sight & Sound’s prestigious critics poll, it could be argued that not only does his seminal 1954 picture, Rear Window, most clearly represent the director’s own obsessions but that it may well be his greatest achievement as a filmmaker.
Even if you haven’t seen the film yourself (and if you haven’t stop reading this review and watch it now) you will at least be familiar with the story. Not only has the plot of a wheelchair bound photographer who believes he has witnessed a murder become ingrained in the public’s consciousness but it has been remade and re-imagined numerous times in many different forms. Therefore it is testament to Hitchcock’s undeniable talent that the film can still surprise and delight no matter how many times you have seen it.
Set during a sweltering and maddening heatwave, Rear Window is an ingeniously simple high concept thriller that also flirts with comedy, romance and slice of life drama. With the always active photographer, L.B. 'Jeff' Jefferies, confined to a wheelchair, and therefore his claustrophobic apartment, he is left with little to do but spy on his fellow neighbours across the courtyard. Jeff becomes a voyeur in the same way we the cinema going public do. He is the audience’s surrogate figure in this potentially murderous story and as such we become complicit in the events just as he embroils his girlfriend and nurse in his suspicions. Much like Michael Powell’s controversial Peeping Tom putting the audience in such a strong, non-passive, position is an unusual experience. The highly subjective viewpoint makes us instantly connect with Jeff’s character and the frustration and paranoia he feels.
Jeff’s apartment window becomes a substitute cinema screen whilst the characters’ gossiping provides an analysis of the events. The audience-protagonist mirroring is not simply a gimmick but crucial in understanding why the film works so well and how this subjective gaze that remains confined to Jeff’s apartment helps create a palpable tension and friction. Yet this mirroring is not reserved simply for the audience. The lives across the courtyard, from the amorous newlyweds to the frustrated musician, parallel and contrast the stalled romance between Jeff and his model girlfriend, Lisa. The other stories in the apartments forewarn the perils of domesticity that Jeff so fears whilst each window also act as a self-contained vignette as if each apartment represented a different television channel that was broadcasting different stories in very different genres. There are so many layers to Rear Window that it may well be Hitchcock’s most thematically rich work.
You get the impression Hitchcock was a director that liked to be pushed and tested. From the early days of the cramped Lifeboat to the cleverly edited one-shot Rope, Hitchcock has enjoyed being technically restricted and challenged. Rear Window may have been filmed on the largest indoor soundstage at the time but he forced himself to remain tightly focused on the important elements of the story. He even stayed in Jeff’s apartment and relayed messages via radio earpieces to the actors in the adjacent building. In lesser hands this could have been little more than a novelty yet it never once feels contrived but integral to building suspense. The film is even devoid of a proper musical score (beyond title music) with the music emanating from the diegetic sounds of the apartment complex. Because of its themes of voyeurism and its metaphor for cinema itself it could be argued that it is one of Hitchcock’s most personal films. Scopophilia and the art of looking is something he explored time and again in his work and Rear Window is undoubtedly the clearest expression of that professional obsession.
James Stewart delivers possibly a career best performance as the stir crazy invalid. Restricted to only minimal body movement, Stewart relies on his natural charm and talent to convey his aggravations. Despite his voyeuristic tendencies, which could come across as creepy if played by another actor (imagine how different the film would be if the likes of Peter Lorre had been cast), he is always a sympathetic character, partly because his frustrations are universal and partly because of Stewart’s innate charisma. Grace Kelly has never been more beautiful and radiant as she is here. She plays her character perfectly and whilst Jeff’s reluctance to marry such a perfect woman may stretch credibility their relationship is beautifully judged. The antagonist is an ordinary and pathetic figure so unlike the typical thriller villains that populate lesser films.
Made during a particularly rich creative period for Hitchcock the film demonstrates the director’s technical virtuosity and unparalleled storytelling talent. No matter what way you look at it Rear Window is an undisputed masterpiece.