Like the Greenwich Village courtyard view from its titular portal, Alfred Hitchcock's classic Rear Window is both confined and multileveled: its story and visual perspective are dictated by its protagonist's imprisonment in his apartment, convalescing in a wheelchair, from which both he and the audience observe the lives of his neighbours. Cheerful voyeurism, as well as the behaviour glimpsed among the various tenants, affords a droll comic atmosphere that gradually darkens when he sees clues to what may be a murder. Photographer LB "Jeff" Jeffries (James Stewart)... is, in fact, a voyeur by trade, a professional photographer sidelined by an accident while on assignment. His immersion in the human drama (and comedy) visible from his window is a by-product of boredom, underlined by the disapproval of his girlfriend, Lisa (Grace Kelly), and a wisecracking visiting nurse (Thelma Ritter). Yet when the invalid wife of Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr) disappears, Jeff enlists the two women to help him to determine whether she's really left town, as Thorwald insists, or been murdered. Hitchcock scholar Donald Spoto convincingly argues that the crime at the centre of this mystery is the MacGuffin--a mere pretext--in a film that's more interested in the implications of Jeff's sentinel perspective. We actually learn more about the lives of the other neighbours (given generic names by Jeff, even as he's drawn into their lives) he, and we, watch undetected than we do the putative murderer and his victim. Jeff's evident fear of intimacy and commitment with the elegant, adoring Lisa provides the other vital thread to the script, one woven not only into the couple's own relationship, but reflected and even commented upon through the various neighbours' lives. At a minimum, Hitchcock's skill at making us accomplices to Jeff's spying, coupled with an ingenious escalation of suspense as the teasingly vague evidence coalesces into ominous proof, deliver a superb thriller spiked with droll humour, right up to its nail-biting, nightmarish climax. At deeper levels, however, Rear Window plumbs issues of moral responsibility and emotional honesty, while offering further proof (were any needed) of the director's brilliance as a visual storyteller. -- Sam Sutherland, Amazon.com [show more]
Along with "Vertigo" and "North by Northwest" this intelligent and claustrophobic thriller from maestro Alfred Hitchcock deserves a place in any dvd collection worthy of its name.
Featuring a standout performance by Hollywood veteran James Stewart and a sympathetic one from Grace Kelly ,who never looked more stunning or gracefully costumed.
Thelma Ritter stars as the "lady who does" lends her usual touch of irony and comic relief to the otherwise dark proceedings.
The courtyard set is one of the most complex and cleverly effective to be fashioned by any movie set designer,whilst the score by Franz Waxman perfectly compliments the storyline and includes an achingly beautiful love theme "Lisa",written for the Grace Kelly character.
Raymond Burr adds a chillingly effective performance as the mysterious neighbour from across the courtyard.
For a memorable and tense thriller experience and one which involves the viewer completely,this exciting tale is one which can be revisited time and again and still the adrenaline is pumped and set to flow.........
We will publish your review of Rear Window [1954] on DVD within a few days as long as it meets our guidelines.
None of your personal details will be passed on to any other third party.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. Alfred Hitchcock amply demonstrates why he's been called "The Master of Suspense" with this both witty and macabre tale of voyeurism and murder starring two of cinema's all-time favourites, James Stewart and Grace Kelly. L.B. Jeffries (Stewart), a photographer with a broken leg, takes up the fine art of spying on his Greenwich Village neighbours during a summer heat wave. But things really hot up when he suspects one neighbour of murdering his invalid wife and burying the body in a flower garden. Actors James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Judith Evelyn, Raymond Burr, Ross Bagdasarian, Thelma Ritter, Wendell Corey, Georgine Darcy, Sara Berner, Frank Cady, Jesslyn Fax, Rand Harper, Irene Winston, Havis Davenport, Marla English & Alfred Hitchcock Director Alfred Hitchcock Certificate PG Year 1954 Screen Widescreen 1.66:1 Anamorphic Languages English - Dolby Digital (1.0) Mono Additional Languages German Subtitles English ; English for the hearing impaired ; Danish ; Dutch ; Finnish ; German ; Norwegian ; Swedish Duration 1 hour and 49 minutes (approx)
James Stewart and Grace Kelly star in Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller which explores the role of the voyeur. After breaking his leg during a shoot, photo-journalist L.B. 'Jeff' Jeffries (Stewart) is forced to spend a humid summer recuperating in his Greenwich Village apartment. The wheelchair-bound Jeff whiles away his time observing his neighbours through a telephoto lens, bestowing them with nicknames and growing familiar with their daily routines. However, his society girlfriend Lisa (Kelly) is exasperated and then alarmed when Jeff becomes obsessed with the notion that Lars Thorwald (Raymond Burr), who lives in the apartment opposite, has murdered his wife...
This site uses cookies.
More details in our privacy policy
