Rear Window (1954)
Alfred Hitchcock's critically acclaimed and commercially successful thriller Rear Window defies singular categorization. It is at once a Film Noir, Black Comedy, Suspense and Drama. Starring the hunk of the fifties (who was I think in his fifties at that time, which makes him over a hundred by now!!!) James Stewart and the ever-alluring Grace Kelly. Stewart also starred in Vertigo and The Man who Shot Liberty Valance while Kelly lent her stellar presence in To Catch a Thief and Dial M for Murder.This film makes an interesting specimen for
Film students and those who have had indigestion of Hollywood special effects-driven films recently (me included!). For one, it is an allegory of the experience of cinema and the voyeuristic attraction of movies to cinephiles (you and me). The plot is deceptively simple: a wheelchair bound photojournalist, J. L. Jeffries, could not get out of his apartment and was reduced to watching his neighboors from his flat's rear window. He thought he witnessed a murder so he watched more closely.
Meanwhile his insurance firm nurse, Stella, told him to get a life and marry Lisa who was a perfect woman. But that was Jeffries problem, he found Lisa too perfect for his disorderly and unpredictable life. He did not want to complicate things. Until the suspicion of the murder brought them closer to one another in their desire to uncover the truth about the mysterious disappearance of Mrs. Thorwalds and the erratic behavior of Lars Thorwalds.
The film is a rare treat for a fifties film and the narrative is densely packed with suspense and intrigue. Hitchcock will not be called the Master of Suspense for nothing. But this films brings in more than entertainment value, it puts the classic question that artists and nationalists have struggled and debated to answer: is art for art's sake or is it a social institution as well? How do we differentiate commercial from art films? Who decides which is which?
For the meantime, while watching the movie, we are asked, was there really a murder? What is the role of the director, the actor, the cameramen and the audience in determining the action happening in the film? Can be we passive observers or active participants in the whole cinema experience? This film is available on DVD!
posted by sonoftheprodigal at 8:29 AM
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2 Comments:
Ahhh, Hitchcock.
And, ahhh, the 50s.
Some fine movies were made in America in the 40s & 50s.
It's amazing that, even with all the techno-heavy, special-effect films out today, you can still watch "Rear Window" and be on the edge of your seat in suspense.
As for Grace Kelly, I have to say, I never thought she exhibited much depth in her acting. In fact, I thought Thelma Ritter delivered a much more solid & entertaining performance, just all-in-all more believable.
But...and this is a big but...Kelly sure was a looker, and once she entered the scene, there was no looking away. She was the height of sophistication, and, for a lot of American women, the image she portrayed has never gone out of style.
I urge you to go back in Hollywood history even further and rent a couple of film noir pics, e.g., "Double Indemnity," with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck (one of the finest actresses ever).
I've heard that the film noir genre grew out of America's loss of innocence after WW2, having suffered so much fighting Hitler, Mussolini & Tojo, and being forced into this super-power role. (I agree w/ some of that: we were forced into being a superpower, but I think we lost our innocence way before that).
Hey, it's a theory.
The film noir movies are shocking in their dark feel and immoral or amoral story lines -- such an about-face from the happy-go-lucky and squeeky clean pictures that were common before the War (musicals, happy endings, westerns, "women's pictures,"etc.)
I'd love for you to check out some film noir, and a good one to start with is "Double Indemnity."
wow!!! thanks buddy. i'm really into updating my movie reviews. i am seating in a graduate class on film theory and language. "rear window" was our first film. we will watch "the killers", "400 blows" and other of the genre. I will look for a copy of "Double Indemnity". I will tell you what I find in it.
Again thanks! It sure helps to have a coach/buddy.
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