Alfred Hitchcock once said, “If it's a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on.” This quote entirely sums up the reasons I loved Hitchcock’s movie Rear Window. Made in the 50s, this film revolves around L.B. Jefferies, an adventurous photographer who has broken his leg and is stuck in a wheelchair, watching his neighbours out his apartment window for entertainment. In his last housebound week, Jeff becomes convinced that a murder
1. Introduction Rear Window is a 1954 crime thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and based on the novel by James M. Cain. The film stars James Stewart and Grace Kelly and tells the story of a man who is blackmailed into spying on his neighbours through their windows. The film is characterised by its visual narrative, which uses a variety of camera angles and movements to create a sense of suspense. Conflict and resolution are also important elements of the film, and it is set in a claustrophobic
Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window has several themes. One major theme is relationships. The lead character, Jeff Jeffries, a photographer and committed bachelor, is involved in a relationship with Lisa Fremont, a model, although the relationship has some tension due to Jeff’s lack of commitment. When Jeff is confined to his apartment recovering from a broken leg, he begins spying through his rear window on his neighbors in a nearby apartment. Through her frequent visits, Lisa is drawn into this spying
The Character Evolution Of Jeff and the Realizations he Faces Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock is a film full of symbolism and motifs that provides viewers with a bigger meaning. It shows these rhetorical appeals through Hitchcock’s eyes that would not be recognized if not analyzed. Through these appeals I have recognized the window as being a symbol and marriage and binoculars as motifs. After understanding much more than what the eye initially sees when viewing this film, there is a fine line between
“We’ve become a nation of peeping toms,” states James Stewart’s nurse, played by Thelma Ritter, in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film Rear Window. Ritter’s comment ironically foreshadows events later in the film, but simultaneously provides a critique of the voyeuristic nature of cinema itself. Rear Window’s marketing campaign and public reception both center on the notion of ‘peeping,’ but present differing standpoints on Hitchcock’s exhibition and apparent promotion of the morbid curiosity at the root
Alfred Hitchcock’s film “Rear Window” illustrates the ideas on how jeff’s vo yeuristic behaviour coincide throughout the movie. The obsession of the protaganist in observing his neighbourhood resulted in solving a murder cause and helps to fix his relationships to his fiancé. This motion suggest that Hitchcock take a stance on Jeffries voyeurism as this character gained a lot of positive outcome through this impulsive and unworrying behaviour. The author also used some supporting characters like
People seem naturally curious of others, Hitchcock discusses the idea of privacy and a human’s natural interest in others’ private lives. Rear Window becomes a classic film not just as a Hitchcock film but an introspective idea about human nature. Hitchcock uses the medium to show a part of him and the curiosities he wants to delve into with the concept of voyeurism. Using film techniques, such as the placement of the camera to the music, Hitchcock becomes transcendent with the genre of thriller
Rear Window (1984) directed by Alfred Hitchcock depicts an injured and house-ridden photographer peering out into the local neighbourhood and discovering something gruesome. The film explores many themes such as voyeurism and morality in a grey light that leaves the audience unclear of what morals the film suggests. However, Rear Window morals strongly suggest that individuals must not delve into the personal affairs of others. Characters in the film such as Tom Doyle and Stella provide a voice of
In Rear Window, Alfred Hitchcock explores the ambiguous nature of voyeurism, yet argues human nature vindicates the “harm in looking”. To reel audiences into the debate, Hitchcock presents them with the commonplace, knee-jerk response to voyeurism for consideration. Situating the viewer into the cynical protagonist’s perspective, the structure of the set enables the audience to “look” from Jeff’s rear window into the screens of his neighbours as a source of entertainment. Yet, Hitchcock elucidates
Rear Window is a film that is developed with the style of subjective treatment or subjective camera shots. Subjective treatment as stated before is more of a personal shot where one is observing the action unfold through a characters point of view. As a matter of fact that is also what a subjective treatment is called, a point of view shot. Versus the use of objective treatment that is used in the film Rear Window too. Objective treatment however, deals more with the physical aspect of a movie. As
Introduction Part 1: “Consciously or not, Alfred Hitchcock never followed tendencies of mainstream cinema. By depicting his heroines as strong and expressive, giving them freedom of will and using a subjective narrative mode, he broke with the classical image of woman as a spectacle.” (Malgorzata Bodecka) Films have always been influenced by the social-cultural background from the time the film was produced. Dating back to the beginning of film around the 1890s through the films produced today,
Auteur is the french word for author and is a term given to those far and few between who were responsible for handling and directing most of, if not all post and prior production of a film, including techniques, advertising, and choice of cast. So much so that they are considered to be the "author" of the film. Alfred Hitchcock has no doubt left an indelible and engraved mark on all of cinematography as one of the most successful and influential auteurs of all time, as seen through the wide range
Camera narration is crucial to the effect the movie has on its audience. It is noticed that the viewer rarely gets close to the apartments or characters across the courtyard. The viewpoint is mainly fixed to Jeff’s apartment, apart from a few occasions where the camera plunges out of the window. The fronts of the buildings facing the main street are never shown either; instead all of the action takes place within the mystery and secrecy of the backyard, hence the title name ‘Rear’ Window. Perhaps
1) Three elements that are of great importance to a successful screenplay are sex, patriotism, and violence. These three elements are what brings in the audience to the movies. Sex is an element which sells very well and has a huge audience already. For instance, the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy is surrounded by sex and captivates a huge audience to come in the theatre. Patriotism is also a great element because the audience is already rooting for somebody in the film. Patriotism also drives the
The film One Hour Photo directed by Mark Romanek contains a plot of a technician at a one-hour photo lab. The character's name is Sy Parrish is played by the famous Robin Williams. This middle-aged character is lonely and depressed, but his job makes him feel as though he knows a lot of people because of their photographs. Including his all time favorite family the Yorkin's. He has been developing their photos for an extensive time period. He has fancies that he would be the favorite uncle. Although
In the book, Murder in the Bayou, Ethan Brown takes the reader through the murky waters of Jennings, Louisiana as he recounts the gruesome history of eight female murders known as the Jeff Davis 8. With police records and witness accounts, Brown uncovers that the murders are anything but your regular killings. Instead, Brown hints at a unnerving and inappropriate relationship shared by The Jennings Police Department and Jenning’s street hustlers and drug dealers. According to Brown (2017), “The Jennings
The film 'Rear Window' (1954), directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is an examination of voyeurism as a moral dilemma faced by both individuals in an ordinary neighbourhood, and by the Government during a time when suspicion and paranoia were rampant in America. Hitchcock's own view on the topic is not immediately clear; he presents the idea of spying on others in both a positive and negative light. In doing so, he may be commenting on the ambiguity of what is right or wrong in such circumstances. Rear
In the movie Rear Window, the binoculars and camera Jeff used in the film are his own perspective of his fears and desires he has with Lisa. When he sees Thorwald and his wife through the binoculars, it represents Jeff’s greatest fear of a marriage gone wrong leading to the murder of a significant other. As he spies on Thorwald covering up the murder of his wife the audience sees through the binoculars lenses what Jeff fears the most if he starts a meaningful relationship with Lisa. These lenses
Introduction For the final deconstruction paper, I chose the opening of Meshes of the Afternoon a 1943 Hollywood film directed by Maya Deren and cinematographer Alexander Hamid up until the actor closes her eyes just before she sleeps and before the dream. The film concerns the main cinematic element of slow disclosure, while delving into the secondary elements of multi-angularity, camera movement, and familiar image. The paper will deconstruct the opening scene’s cinematic structure shot-by-shot
In Sidney Gottlieb’s article on “Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window: The Pleasure and Dangers of Looking”, they thoroughly explain how Hitchcocks direction of the movie such as filming angles lures the audience in being about the same position as the characters, by looking at the movie of people looking at people looking. They go into detail how looking can be both good and bad, with a bit of focus on the bad towards the end which correlates to the unwrapping of the crime in the movie and the onlocker