THE TROUBLE WITH WATCHING

From the close-up of the anonymous unblinking eye in Vertigo to the single-take opening shot of Psycho, camera movement has always been an essential element in the films of Hitchcock. Mostly every shot in Rear Window originates from the apartment that belongs to Jeff, the photographer (James Stewart). Furthermore, the panning of the camera also mimics human vision -- slow and attentive in quiet observation, fast when under pressure. Notice the direction of the panning in the opening and closing shots of the film. As in other Hitchcock films, the opening shot parallels the closing shot. Psycho begins as the camera zooms into Marion Crane's hotel room window; the film ends similarly, as the camera closes in on Norman Bates' face at the police station. In Rear Window the camera first pans from right to left, as if to indicate that the characters in this film are moving away from what is right. The final shot, consequently, reverses this motion as the camera moves from left to right -- first showing Jeff in the wheelchair, the consequence of his actions, and then on to Lisa, who triumphs at the end of the film. Everything hads gone back to "normal," so to speak.

A ROOM WITH A VIEW THE VIEW FROM JEFF'S REAR WINDOW

As with the work of every great auteur, every Hitchcock film tells a story that goes beyond the script. Hitchcock uses the camera as a unique vehicle to communicate a message to his audience that may or may not be implicit in the story alone. Notice, for instance, how in Dial M for Murder Grace Kelly's apparent guilt is made clear through the colors of her clothing. Similarly, mirrors are ever-present in Psycho to indicate the dual nature and the hidden secrets that every character in the film harbors. Rear Window is no exception; in fact, the film is one of Hitchcock's most subtle works in that almost everything that appears on the frame is a direct indication of the relationship between Lisa and Jeff. As Jeff begins to watch the everyday lives of his neighbors, it becomes clear to the viewer that every household across from Jeff's apartment in fact presents a possibility to the future life of Lisa and Jeff as a couple.

Happiness is off-limits to Lisa and Jeff since Hitchcock never shows directly the life of the newlywed couple. While the view is clear for every scenario before him, tree branches present an obstacle whenever Jeff tries to spy on the newlyweds; moreover, their window is always closed and thus their actions hidden from view, as if telling Jeff that a happy marriage is not a possibility for him. Instead his possibilities include the Thorwalds, who are always arguing and whom Jeff suspects the husband to have murdered the wife; Mrs. Lonelyhearts, who attempts suicide as she is unable to find a right man for her; the childless couple who faces tragedy as their dog is slaughtered; Ms. Torso, who dances and flirts with other men while her husband is away; the lonely artist who, despite multiple late-night parties, is unable to find a muse for his craft.

JEFF'S ACCIDENT: PHOTOGRAPH OF THE CAR CRASH

JEFF WATCHES AS THE THORWALDS ARGUE

Subtext in Rear Window goes beyond what the characters watch. After all, this is in essence a film about watching and, as voyeurs, the audience becomes part of the race of peeping toms that Stella tells Jeff society is becoming. Notice how Hitchcock establishes what Jeff does and how he got to where he is. In his documented interview with Francois Truffaut (Hitchcock Truffaut), Hitchcock notes that he could have had a conversation where Jeff explains his profession and his condition. Instead, everything is made clear in less than a minute of screen time and in one single shot. We are shown pictures on the wall, a camera, camera lenses, a picture of a race car flipping over taken from nearby, and finally Jeff in a wheelchair with a cast on his leg.

SUNSET

THE THORWALDS: TOGETHER AT HOME BUT SEPARATE FROM EACH OTHER.

Color is also an important element of subtext in Rear Window. Because the main action takes place in the neighboring building, its red bricks seem to send out a warning that something bad is about to happen, just as the first living creatures we see in the film are chirping birds (an element of danger in Psycho and The Birds) followed by a black cat -- traditionally associated with bad luck. A warning associated with a different color, yellow, comes up in the yellow windowpane of the newlyweds' window as if to remind Jeff that their kind of happiness is off-limits to him.

HAPPINESS OFF-LIMITS

MS. LONELY HEARTS GETS READY FOR AN IMAGINARY DATE

Although not as prominent as in Dial M For Murder, Grace Kelly's clothing may also serve as an indication to her true character. She first appears on screen wearing a black and white dress, indicative of Jeff's perception of her as someone who is sophisticated and elegant, and at the same time possible stuck in a black-and-white mentality that does not allow for gray areas to exist.. After they drink red wine (another warning, perhaps?) and she begins to show interest in the lives of the neighbors, her clothing becomes completely black. As she becomes more interested and more drawn into the action, her character, like her clothing, ceases to be one-dimensional and becomes very colorful. Moreover, Stella's clothing goes through a similar transformation. She wears white as she scolds Jeff for showing interest in other people's affairs, but as she herself becomes a watcher her clothing darkens as if to indicate that her innocence, or at least her refusal to be tempted, has faded.

GRACE KELLY FIRST APPEARS ON SCREEN

THE FLOWERS THAT DON'T GROW

Another significant element, the one that convinces Jeff that the murder has definitely taken place, is the yellow flowers in the garden that shrink with time, as opposed to growing, and ultimately cost the dog his life. Later in his his career, in Marnie, Hitchcock would use yellow flowers to associate Tippi Hedren's character with a danger she can never escape. In Rear Window, the yellow flowers serve as the turning point in the story that makes Jeff realize that his original theory is probably correct even though he had already been convinced that no murder had taken place: something must be buried under those flowers since they don't seem to grow.

A RACE OF PEEPING TOMS: STELLA AND JEFF LOOK OUT THE WINDOW

THORWALD LEAVES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT

Aside from color, water represents the ultimate element of danger and death in Rear Window. From early on in his films, such as Rebecca's death in Rebecca, the plane crash in Foreign Correspondent, and all of Lifeboat, Hitchcock established water as something that carries tragedy and death. Marnie and Madeleine (in Marnie and Vertigo, respectively) attempt suicide by drowning. In The Birds, Melanie is attacked while on a boat at the lake, while in Psycho it is rain that leads Marion Crane to the Bates Motel. It rains in Rear Window as Lars Thorwald makes three late-night trips to take his wife out of the apartment in a suitcase. Although the crime is not shown on screen, Hitchcock's camera fills in the blanks amidst the rain for the viewer to imagine what has gone on in that rainy night inside the dark apartment across from Jeff's.

LISA KISSES JEFF

LISA AND JEFF WATCH THEIR NEIGHBORS

The Hitchcock Blonde is a motif in and of itself in Hitchcock's filmography. Herself considered the ultimate Hitchcock blonde, Grace Kelly brings a unique combination of class and danger to Lisa Fremont. Like every blonde in a Hitchcock film, Lisa is remote and detached from men; she is classy and well-dressed, but by the end of the film she will have gone through great suffering, danger, and possibly even death. Lisa first appears on screen as something beyond human, in a close-up that is considered one of Hitchcock's most notable shots. She talks to Jeff about the fashion world and about high society at large, but it is evident that despite their conversations and companionship there is a great distance between the two. She wants him to marry her and constantly brings up the topic, but he wastes no time in letting her know that she is not right for him. Jeff says he needs a woman who is "willing to go anywhere, do anything," and as far as he knows Lisa is too busy attending fashion shows to take on the life of risk that he is accustomed to. Lisa will prove that she is more than willing to do anything for Jeff by risking her own life in confronting the killer, but her redemption in Jeff's eyes does not come without a price.

STELLA BECOMES JEFF'S LEGS SHE INDICATES THAT THORWALD IS GONE

MEN GATHER AT MS. TORSO'S

Many critics have pointed to Hitchcock's perception of women in his films, most notably his leading ladies. Opinions range from those who say that the director was a misogynist to those who assert that he gave women an importance that no director had so consistently given throughout a career. The most striking aspect abour the women in Rear Window is that they are reflections of one another. As it was mentioned before, every apartment across from Jeff reflects the possible outcome of his life with Lisa. While we are not able to clearly see the faces of the women from Jeff's apartment, many of them physically resemble Lisa, especially Mrs. Thorwald, Ms. Torso, and the newlywed. What Rear Window presents are the many dimensions of a woman (one character, Lisa Fremont) split into many female characters as if she herself lacks the complexity to have more than one dimension. Just as we see what Jeff sees through his window, we perceive Lisa as he perceives her -- someone sophisticated only in frivolous affairs but incapable of having a multi-faceted, complex life. The point of view in Rear Window is completely subjective in that we are forced to perceive everything as Jeff perceives it.

STELLA, LISA, AND JEFF PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER

LISA BECOMES JEFF'S LEGS: SHE GOES INTO THORWALD'S APARTMENT

When Lisa herself notes that Jeff's cigarette box is cracked and without use because it happens to be "too ornate," she is clearly talking about her own feelings. The only way Lisa can become a significant part of Jeff's life is by taking interest in his favorite hobby: spying. We begin to sense a closeness, the first signs of partnership between a couple, as she herself becomes a watcher and along with Jeff begins to speculate as to the events taking place across their backyard. As she becomes an essential element in their plan to uncover the Thorwald murder, she begins to win over Jeff's heart by putting her life at risk for him. Jeff is a man excited by danger, indicative by the nature of his profession, and by seeing Lisa's willingness to solve the murder he begins to develop real feelings for her. However, despite the romanticism, Lisa is still presented as simply a tool, an instrument to Jeff's plan.

JEFF WRITES THORWALD THE NOTE

THORWALD ATTACKS LISA

LISA SHOWS JEFF THAT SHE HAS THE RING

THORWALD WATCHES JEFF WATCHING LISA

Lisa becomes what Jeff lacks to solve the murder himself, his legs and eyes. First, she and Stella go over to the opposite backyard to dig where they believe some of Mrs. Thorwald, or the murder weapon, might be hidden When they are unsuccessful Lisa decides to go inside the Thorwalds' apartment and look for evidence herself. Ironically, the evidence she finds happens to be something she herself is striving for in her own life -- a wedding ring. Once Lisa enters the Thorwalds' apartment and finds the wedding band, the ring becomes a double victory for her -- not only has she solved the murder but she has also won Jeff's heart. Like the blondes before and after her, Lisa dehumanizes herself and becomes a 'thing' so as to assert her own, or a man's, humanity. **

UNABLE TO WATCH

JEFF BLINDS THORWALD

The tools that Jeff uses to uncover the Thorwald plot are also the same used to defend himself when attacked by Thorwald. After Lisa has broken into the Thorwalds' apartment, Lars Thorwald comes to Jeff's place and confronts him in the dark. To keep the murdered from coming near, Jeff uses his camera flashbulbs to temporarily blind him. To protect himself from the flare Jeff also covers his own face, refusing for the first time to look at Thorwald. Watching and spying have gone to the extent that they are becoming deadly to Jeff. He only realizes this as the killer is no longer within a safe distance. It is only safe to watch but not to participate, to watch something as it burns but not close enough to feel the heat of the flames. By the time Jeff decides to stop watching, it is too late.

THORWALD PUSHES JEFF OUT THE WINDOW

JEFF FALLS

The conflicts in Rear Window are resolved in a fall, both figuratively and literally. After Jeff has fallen for Lisa, who has risked her own life for him, Thorwald pushes Jeff out of the same window Jeff has been using as the screen to the film he has constructed out of his neighbors' lives. As a result of the fall, Jeff breaks his other leg. The final scene in the film shows that the temperature has descended, Jeff is being cared for by Lisa (who now wears the "pants" in the relationship), and the lives of his neighbors going back to normal: the couple who lost the dog have acquired a new one; Ms. Lonely-Hearts finds love in her musician neighbor; the Thorwalds' apartment is being remodeled; and Ms. Torso's husband returns from the war.

THORWALD'S APARTMENT RESTORED

JEFF'S TWO LEGS

Like most Hitchcock films, Rear Window is a tale of obsession -- obsession with watching, spying, and what is not ours. Over the years we keep going back to Rear Window and continue to appreciate it as one of Hitchcock's finest because of how well orchestrated the lives of the characters are splashed across the screen, with everything occurring almost in perfect timing -- or perhaps it is because the film is one of the few uniquely complete cinematic experiences where the dialogue, the editing, the acting, and the directing all play a major role in this film. Rear Window is rooted in our very own necessity to watch and to project, just as we might project our own lives on a screen, on a rear window.