Rear WindowRALIA AMINU & DIEGO

Alfred Hitchcock

Filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock was nicknamed the "Master of

Suspense" for employing a kind of psychological suspense

in his films, producing a distinct viewer experience.

Hitchcock is most famous for his voyeuristic style, twist

endings, and cameo appearances in his films.

he is called the master of suspense because he used

lighting, music and camera angles to build suspense in films

in ways that were not done prior to him. His most excellent

movies such as Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo etc… are

gripping and have got great plots, great acting and are

never predictable, this is why he is masterful.

Rear Window

Alfred Hitchcock's rear window is a film full of symbolism,

narratives, voyeurism and characterisation. The film focuses

around the Main protagonist Jefferies, who is a photographer who

recently broke his leg and is restricted to a wheelchair. The main

character Jeff spends his days and nights watching the

neighbours through a pair of binoculars. The audience are shown

life through Jefferies eyes within the six weeks of his recovery.

Rear Window (1954) made viewers voyeurs, then had them pay

for their pleasure. In its story of a photographer who happens to

witness a murder, Hitchcock provocatively probed the relationship

between the watcher and the watched, involving, by extension,

the viewer of the film.

Point of view shot

Hitchcock uses the point of view shot in order to show

what Jeffery was seeing , using this shot doe not only allow

the audience to see what he is seeing but it allows There

are two main purposes for his use of optical point-of view

shots in Rear Window.

One has to do with the story itself. The point-of-view shots

help to pull the audience into the film and to identify more

with the characters, most notably the main character Jeff.

The second reason is much more universal, having to do

with the nature of film itself, and the essence of cinema.

Sexual Objectification

In Rear Window, female exhibitionism and objectification

occurs. This is evident with the character Lisa. Lisa’s moves

and poses suggest not only that she is confident and

comfortable being looked at but also that she invites being

looked at.

Lisa becomes a partner in Jeff’s gazing/voyeurism and an

active investigator – maybe because this might be a

stratagem for marriage, like her failed seduction attempt with

the dinner from 21 and the sexy negligee.

Lisa’s wardrobe is expensive, high fashion (couture), and

different in every visit. She is portrayed as only caring about

her looks and the latest fashion which is a way of sexual

objectification of women.

The Gaze

The gaze exercises power but also carries risks; it exposes Jeff to being seen by the other.Watching others without being seen gives Jeff a sense and a position of power, but thenit is threatened and lost when Thorwald sees him from his apartment.

stereotypes are being used as the gaze is a male activity and the female the object ofgaze, however Hitchcock undermines these stereotypes throughout the plot.

Jeff becomes powerless and passive when Thorwald breaks inside his apartment.

When Thorwald enters Jeff’s apartment, his eyes are lighted but his face and body aredark.

The gaze is an important element in this movie and there’s significance to Jeff using flashbulbs to try to blind and incapacitate Thorwald as to make an equal sense of powerless,however he fails.

Rear Window - Motifs

Voyeurism - We watch Rear Window as voyeurs (sexual pleasure gained

through looking at human form when they’re unaware of it). Jeff the main

character takes an interest in the ballet dancer in the apartments , as he is

spying on her he gains pleasure from this, we can see this through his

paralinguistic features (facial expressions).

We as the audience are voyeurs as we are also “spying” on the people as

well. Through the POV shot we are seeing exactly what Jeff is seeing which

makes us feel as though we are apart of the act of spying. Hitchcock made

this technique even more effective as the camera is moving back and forth

between apartments and allows us as the audience to be more engaged.