A Film Analysis Of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window

828 Words4 Pages

Hitchcock uses Rear Window to examine the U.S.’s global Cold War strategy. The films use of many paranoia scenes such as when L.B. Jefferies discovered Thorwald making many late-night trips and noticing the missing wedding ring of Mrs. Thorwald encourages viewers to consider the post-war anxieties and personal surveillance of politics in the construction of the U.S’ s ideas about the world and possible consequences. In the film, L.B Jefferies, the protagonist, spies on the insides of many nearby apartments during a heat wave. L.B Jefferies observed people that were happy and jolly but he also saw sadness and loneliness in homes. For instance, in the film, there was a scene where a lady was having a romantic dinner with herself at night. This scene draws the conclusion that during the 1950s many Americans were very individualistic meaning they were unsociable. The …show more content…

Hitchcock clearly shows many scenes in the film to portray the fear and suspicion that many Americans had after the war. In the film, Hitchcock also uses dramatic events such as the yelling of Mrs. Thorwald or the arguments he had with the NYP policeman, Tom Doyle. These scenes all add to the fear of communism and paranoia that was based on someone’s perspective of the world. In the film, it was illustrated that if you were not friendly towards your neighbors it meant that you were of suspicion. The film also illustrated that the way in which you acted towards other people contributed to the overall suspicion of somebody. For instance, one scene depicted a woman as being rude or annoying after the woman had slapped and kicked out her lover for trying to kiss her. Rear Window does an excellent job metaphorical speaking, in providing scenes that portray some of the goals of the Cold War Strategy such as to cause fear and paranoia among the nation. The film accurately displays